"Winning is hard but staying up there is even harder. We had to bounce back after drawing at Genoa and we managed to do that," said Darmian to Sky Sport.

Pioli left Milan after the 19-time Italian champions finished second last season, 19 points behind champions Inter Milan, and following lacklustre runs in the Champions League and the domestic cups.

The 37-year-old Giroud leaves as a big fan favourite and will be remembered in particular for scoring key goals in Milan's 2022 Serie A triumph, the only trophy he won in his three years in Italy.

The Milan board paid a warm tribute in the farewell statement to 58-year-old Italian Pioli.

Olivier Giroud confirmed on Monday that he will leave AC Milan at the end of the season to end his long career in Major League Soccer.

Stefano Pioli is close to guaranteeing Milan, in second, a spot in Europe's top club competition in what will almost certainly be his final season at the club

France's record goal scorer Olivier Giroud has reached agreement with Los Angeles FC to join the Major League Soccer club this summer, sources close to the player confirmed on Tuesday.

Goals from Francesco Acerbi and Marcus Thuram gave Inter a 17-point advantage over closest challengers Milan and secured their 20th league crown with five matches of the season remaining.

Last season's runners-up Roma advanced to their fourth European semi-final in a row.

Noah Okafor salvaged a hard-fought point for Milan in the 84th minute on a hot spring day in Reggio Emilia, but second-placed Milan still risk conceding the Scudetto to Inter in a hotly-anticipated derby despite coming back from two goals down.

AC Milan strolled past 10-man Lecce 3-0 on Saturday to consolidate second place in Serie A and take another step towards Champions League qualification.

AC Milan's owners said on Thursday they will build a 70,000-capacity new stadium for the seven-time European champions that will serve as a multi-purpose venue.

Marcus Thuram was key to Inter's win at a soaking Stadio Olimpico in Rome as, with his team trailing at half-time, the France attacker made it two goals each shortly after the break and forced the Angelino own goal which put Inter ahead in the 56th minute.

The fixture was stopped in the 16th minute in honour of Maignan's shirt number while a famous King quote was displayed on the San Siro's big screens.

Udinese will ban for life a man found to have racially abused France goalkeeper Mike Maignan, the Serie A club announced on Monday.

"I said we cannot play football like this," Maignan said

The 37-year-old Giroud was in the perfect position to head in their second goal before his brilliant back-heel flick set up Theo Hernandez for the third.

Atalanta set up an Italian Cup semi-final with Fiorentina after winning 2-1 at AC Milan on Wednesday, while Lazio won 1-0 in a fiery derby with Roma which finished with three red cards.

AC Milan consolidated their place in Serie A's Champions League positions on Sunday with a straightforward 3-0 win over lowly Empoli.

Atalanta beat Sassuolo 3-1 on Wednesday to qualify for the Italian Cup quarter-finals where they will meet AC Milan.