AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli is confident their Europa League defeat to Lille was a blip.

The Rossoneri suffered their first defeat of the season, and since pre-lockdown in March, in the 3-0 Europa League loss on Thursday evening.

“We lowered the level of our performance against the wrong opponent, so must be ready to step it back up again tomorrow," said the coach in his press conference.

“We had the right spirit, but were lacking in the precision of our passing. It's essential we are determined tomorrow, as it's another opportunity to prove what we can do and show what level we are at.

“An off day was bound to happen, we've played 10 games in 21 days, so have to be ready to deal with that both mentally and physically. Against Lille, we found an opponent in great physical shape."

He added: “Criticism and praise are always excessive in football, so I am not remotely worried about Alessio Romagnoli, Theo Hernandez or anyone else who is singled out. Our problem against Lille was that we weren't sharp enough in our choices, didn't read the spaces they left for us, but we can analyse this and learn from it."