Despite their demoralizing 2-0 first-leg loss to Inter in the Champions League semifinal on Wednesday, which manager Stefano Pioli attributed to Inter’s ruthless finishing, AC Milan remained upbeat.

Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan gave Inter two early goals, and they will head into the second leg at the San Siro on Tuesday with a significant lead.

“The reality is that Inter performed better in the first half, scoring two goals, while Milan showed improvement in the second half but failed to find the net,” Pioli told Amazon Prime Italia.

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Since the 1994–95 season, Milan had not lost three times against its neighbors in a single season before the defeat to Inter.

Before suffering back-to-back losses, 3-0 in the Italian Super Cup and 1-0 in Serie A, Milan won 3-2 over Inter in Serie A in September.

However, 16 years after their previous triumph in 2007, Pioli hailed his team’s tenacity in their quest to continue on pace to win the European Cup for an eighth time.

“We had the chances in the second half so naturally, in the second leg, we need more quality and a more aggressive attitude,” he said.

Due to a stomach injury, forward Rafael Leao was unable to participate in the game, although Pioli thinks he might be ready for the return leg.

“He was not in any condition to play today, there are six days to go and we hope he’ll be ready,” he said.

Milan, the Italian champions from previous season, have only won two of their last six domestic games and, with four games remaining, are currently just outside the top four in the rankings.