Milan head coach Stefano Pioli insists Zlatan Ibrahimovic is "certainly not a racist" but thinks his clash with바카라 웹사이트Romelu바카라 웹사이트Lukaku could rekindle his best form. (More Football News)
Ibrahimovic was sent off having scored the opening goal in the바카라 웹사이트Rossoneri's바카라 웹사이트2-1 Coppa Italia defeat to Inter this week.바카라 웹사이트
The veteran striker earned his first of two yellow cards after a heated confrontation with former Manchester United team-mate Lukaku, in which he appeared to tell the Belgian forward:바카라 웹사이트"Go do your voodoo s***, you little donkey".바카라 웹사이트
It was suggested Ibrahimovic was referring to comments made바카라 웹사이트in 2018바카라 웹사이트by Everton majority shareholder바카라 웹사이트Farhad Moshiri, who said Lukaku had declined a contract extension because a "voodoo message" told him to move to Chelsea - a transfer that never transpired.바카라 웹사이트
Some accused Ibrahimovic of racially abusing Lukaku, with the Swede responding by stating on Twitter: "In ZLATAN's world there is no place for RACISM." United midfielder Paul Pogba also tweeted to say his old team-mate was "the last person I'd think of as racist".바카라 웹사이트
Ibrahimovic바카라 웹사이트will serve a바카라 웹사이트one-game ban for his red card바카라 웹사이트but바카라 웹사이트Pioli hopes a line can now be drawn under the incident as Milan바카라 웹사이트focus back바카라 웹사이트on바카라 웹사이트Serie A.
"Ibrahimovic바카라 웹사이트is determined and up for it, as he always is," Pioli said ahead of Saturday's game at Bologna. "Certain things can happen on the pitch; I'm not going to justify바카라 웹사이트that,바카라 웹사이트but you need to draw a line under it and move on.바카라 웹사이트
"Ibra is certainly not a racist; the club has always been on the front line in the fight against discrimination. Zlatan also needs these situations to get a bit of energy and motivation back."바카라 웹사이트
Milan's cup exit followed a 3-0 home league defeat to바카라 웹사이트Atalanta바카라 웹사이트that allowed Inter to close the gap on바카라 웹사이트the leaders to two points.바카라 웹사이트
Pioli says back-to-back losses have not changed his view of his team's potential as he aims to return them to the Champions League.바카라 웹사이트
"We're not interested in what people are saying outside of the club," he said. "We just need to focus on ourselves, maintain a good balance, continue to work and improve. We know that opinions can change quickly in football.바카라 웹사이트
"It's useless to look back; we only need to look forwards. I haven't changed my mind on our quality. We have a good바카라 웹사이트team바카라 웹사이트and the ideas are there. We바카라 웹사이트are able to바카라 웹사이트put in consistently good and competitive performances, which we have shown up to now.바카라 웹사이트
"We're having a great season; we have 18 more points than we did at this stage last season and have closed the gap to our direct rivals.
"The second half of the season will be more complicated and hard-fought. Qualifying for Champions League football won't be바카라 웹사이트easy,바카라 웹사이트but we have the quality to do it."
