Stefano Pioli has established a trend of pulling a rabbit out of the hat when his future at AC Milan is under the greatest scrutiny, a report has outlined.
The 2-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain was an impressive response after losses against Juventus, PSG and Udinese, and while many would argue the team are not definitely out of their difficult moment it is certainly a point from which to relaunch.
La Gazzetta dello Sport have picked out seven previous rough patches that Pioli has not only survived but seemed to thrive after.
December 2019: The first turning point is when Pioli arrived at Milanello in October, without too many expectations. He was meant to be an interim appointment of sorts, with Ralf Rangnick taking over, and the disastrous 5-0 against Atalanta set off the alarm bells.
Milan were seven points ahead of the relegation zone and 14 away from the Champions League places at that point. The winter mercato saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic return and Simon Kjaer arrive, then in January the team changed gear and collected 5 wins and 2 draws in the first 7 matches of the new year.
March 2020: The defeat against Genoa, the last match before the Covid break, was a real spark for Pioli's Milan. In the summer, the Rossoneri started again with a new spirit, achieved positive results and won against Roma, Lazio and Juve.
On 21 July, just before Sassuolo-Milan, news arrived from Germany of the collapsed agreement with Rangnick. And, at the final whistle, the club announced: 'Pioli renews until 2022'. A reward for the coach's work, who finished in sixth place and reached the Europa League qualifiers.
Then the new season starts and in the first 14 matches produced 10 wins and 4 draws, numbers that hadn't been seen for a while. Milan scores more points than anyone else, 79, in the calendar year.
April 2021: A 2-1 defeat against Sassuolo at San Siro preceded a 3-0 loss against Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico, complicating the chase for top four. However, the victories against Benevento, Juventus, Torino and Atalanta gave the Rossoneri a return to the Champions League on the final day.
November 2021: Some difficulties were also seen when the Rossoneri registered two of their four defeats in the Scudetto-winning season within a week. First came the 4-3 loss against Fiorentina at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, then the 3-1 at San Siro against Sassuolo. The recovery came with the wins against Udinese and Salernitana.
It was the beginning of a crisis that led to a draw with Lecce, elimination in the Coppa Italia against Torino, to a 3-0 defeat in the Supercoppa against Inter, to subsequent heavy defeats against Lazio (4-0) and Sassuolo (2-5) and another derby lost in the league.
The switch to a three-man defence was the key to four consecutive victories, including the 1-0 in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Tottenham.
March 2023: After a negative streak in the league, characterised by two defeats against Fiorentina and Udinese and a draw against Salernitana, the Rossoneri stunned everyone with a 4-0 away win at future Italian champions Napoli.
It was a show of strength against the Azzurri, a preview of the two excellent performances in the Champions League quarter-finals, which earned them a return to the semi-finals of the top club competition.
September 2023: The most recent time Pioli had experienced a similar situation was in mid-September when Milan - who had won all three games to that point - met Inter in the derby on the fourth day.
A 5-1 defeat was suffered, from which the team however emerged with four consecutive victories in the league (complete with the top spot in the table before the last international break) and two 0-0 draws in the Champions League. In both cases, with good performances and some regrets.
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