Pavlovic: Milan ‘played slowly’ against Napoli | OneFootball

Strahinja Pavlović admits Milan ‘played slowly’ against Napoli: ‘In the end, we didn’t have a good position on the goal, and they scored.’

Milan suffered a 1-0 away defeat at Napoli on Monday night, seeing the Partenopei overtake them in second position in the Serie A table.

The Serie A title race is now reduced to Inter and Napoli, although the Nerazzurri have a seven-point lead over the Partenopei with seven games remaining.

“We wanted to take three points here and get closer to Inter, but things didn’t go well,” Pavlovic told DAZN Italia via TMW.

“From the beginning, we played slowly and without many chances, in the end, we didn’t have a good position on the goal, and they scored.”

Milan had not been out of the top two since Week 11 this season, so are they looking over their shoulders now to secure a Champions League spot?

“We lost second place, but we are still on the way to reaching our goals,” Pavlovic replied.

“We don’t need to look at what other teams are doing; we just need to be focused on ourselves, to win next week and take three points at home.”

MILAN, ITALY – MARCH 21: Strahinja Pavlovic of AC Milan celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the Serie A match between AC Milan and Torino FC at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on March 21, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Pavlovic is a central defender, but has increasingly been pushing forward to act as an adjunct striker.

“We should create even more chances; we didn’t create a lot in the last few games, even if we scored three goals against Torino. When we have opportunities to score, we need to move much faster and be more focused,” he concluded.

“I had one situation too today where I didn’t know whether to shoot or pass, and I missed that moment, so we need to be more focused in these situations.”

NAPLES, ITALY – APRIL 06: Giovane of SSC Napoli battles for possession with Strahinja Pavlovic of AC Milan during the Serie A match between SSC Napoli and AC Milan at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on April 06, 2026 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

Milan return to the pitch on Saturday, April 11, hosting Udinese at San Siro at 18:00 CET.

The Rossoneri have collected three wins and two defeats in the last five league matches and have a six-point advantage over fifth-placed Juventus.