Allegri: Milan must 'press the reset button' in pursuit of Champions League spot

Massimiliano Allegri said that AC Milan must "press the reset button" in their quest for Champions League football after their potentially damaging defeat to Lazio on Sunday. 

Allegri watched on as Gustav Isaksen's 26th-minute strike proved decisive at Stadio Olimpico, with the result also denting Milan's hopes of catching league leaders Inter. 

Cristian Chivu's side drew 1-1 with Atalanta a day earlier, but the Rossoneri were unable to take advantage, leaving them eight points adrift of their rivals at the summit. 

The Opta supercomputer still assigns Milan a 4.1% chance of lifting the Scudetto for the first time since 2021-22, though Inter are the overwhelming favourites with a probability of 93.5% with eight games of the campaign remaining. 

However, the season simulations have given Allegri's men a 96.4% chance of finishing in the top four, which would be enough to secure a return to UEFA's flagship competition.

But the race is beginning to hot up for a top-four finish, with just nine points separating sixth-placed Roma and Milan, and Allegri urged his team to find a response to reach their goal of Champions League football, an achievement he has continually reiterated is the club's target in 2025-26.

"What we absolutely must do now is press the reset button. People talked about the Scudetto after the win over Inter, but we have to be realistic in life," Allegri told DAZN Italia. 

"We need to remember that the objective is Champions League qualification, otherwise we risk destroying all that we have built over the last six months."

The result saw Milan lose their first away match of the season in Serie A – after being unbeaten in all the previous 14 such games in the top flight this term (W9 D5).

But they had their chances throughout, with Zachary Athekame seeing his brilliant finish in the 75th minute disallowed after handling the ball before striking the ball home. 

Milan finished the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.19 from their 17 shots, though only three were on target, to Lazio's 0.41 from their seven attempts. 

They also lost without scoring in a Serie A match against Lazio for the first time since 24th January 2023, and Allegri acknowledged the difficulties his team came up against. 

"We knew the difficulties of this match, as the fans were returning to the stadium, and it was very important for Lazio," Allegri said.

"Their first half was very strong, we should've been a little more organised and made fewer errors. They ran hard and fell away after the break.

"We had a lot more intensity and poured forward, but were unable to make it count with a goal. This is football."

There was also a moment of tension between Allegri and Rafael Leao after the Milan number 10 was replaced in the 67th minute by striker Niclas Fullkrug. 

Leao was urged off the pitch by captain Mike Maignan before pushing away Allegri and kicking away bottles on the Milan bench. 

"Leao was annoyed because he had some situations where he could’ve had better service, so he was a bit angry, but these things can happen during a match," added Allegri.

"All the lads wanted to win, first and foremost to break away from the chasing pack, because Juventus are only seven points behind us now.

"It's a long season still, we need to stay focused and do better on the situations we got wrong in the first half."