After his club’s 3-1 victory at 10-man Slavia Prague on Thursday, manager Stefano Pioli said AC Milan need to step up their game as the Europa League moved into the quarterfinals and some of Europe’s biggest names were waiting for the Serie A squad.
Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and Rafael Leao all scored goals in the first half to help Milan defeat the Czech team 7-3 on aggregate in their round of 16 match.
In Friday’s draw, the seven-time Champions League winners will learn who their quarterfinal opponents will be; among the contenders are Liverpool, Benfica, and Bayer Leverkusen, the undefeated leaders in the Bundesliga.
In the last eight, AS Roma, Atalanta, West Ham United, and Olympique de Marseille round up the formidable field.
“The level of opposition will go up now, although Rennes and Slavia Prague are decent teams even if they are not the biggest names,” Pioli told reporters.
“Now the level will be higher, so we have to raise the bar. There are many things we can improve on… less distractions and there are other situations to analyze in order to improve.
