Former AC Milan defender Franco Baresi believes that Stefano Pioli’s side would not have lost against Atletico Madrid had Franck Kessie not seen red.
Baresi spoke to Milan TV about a number of topics on the eve of the game against Porto, one which has become do or die for the Rossoneri, and he began by reflecting on some of his own memories in the competition with MilanNews relaying his quotes.
On the first European Cup he won with Milan: “If I think about that moment, many emotions come to mind: great satisfaction of lifting that trophy after so many years, for me to lift it first was an immense joy.
“That period was impressive for us, the Champions League is a competition that gives you great satisfaction. The league is one thing, the Champions League is another, there was another energy and another charge. They were all decisive games, so every match was fundamental. You couldn’t leave anything to chance, you always had to be focused.”
On the two-legged affair against Red Star: “The two legs against Red Star was a fundamental stage, they were two complicated matches. After the 1-1 first leg, we went to their home and with a bit of luck thanks to the fog that allowed us to replay the match in the return leg we did better and in the end we won on penalties. I too took a penalty, it was a responsibility that I had to take.”
On the semi-final against Real Madrid: “We knew that we could annoy Real Madrid and that we could not miss that match. After 20 years we could return to the final and we heard it a lot on the eve, we were loaded. In Milan we had an extraordinary game and we scored five goals. From there we thought that we could not lose that final.”
On the emotion of the final: “I made many finals, some I even lost. There you think you could do better or something more while when you won there was the satisfaction of having reached a goal you had worked for all year and there was the satisfaction of having given a joy to the fans who followed you everywhere.
“The crowd with 70,000 people became a spectacle. Even winning the league titles took away your energy and reaching the final was something extraordinary. There was the desire not to disappoint, to be ambitious and to represent an important company gave great stimuli.”
On the years under Sacchi and Capello: “Over the years with Sacchi we have learned a lot. The team had to be compact and the distances between us were minimal. Capello gave us further knowledge at a time when we had a lot of knowledge.
“We achieved great results such as the streak of 58 games without defeat or the 1993 final in which we arrived without ever losing and then we lost that game. The following year we won the league and the Champions League together and it was an extraordinary year.”
On Porto: “Porto are never a simple opponent. They are hard to deal with and with quality players. We have to be careful and we have always suffered against them in the past.”
On Pioli’s Milan: “Milan have grown a lot in these two years. We returned to the Champions League after seven years and we returned to this competition with desire. We played at the level of our opponents and I am convinced that in 11 against 11 we would never have lost to Atletico. We have shown that we play with determination, quality and personality. Milan must always remain at the highest level.”
