AC Milan defender Matteo Gabbia is keen to take the positives from the game against Bayer Leverkusen tonight even if it ended in a second defeat in two to begin the Champions League campaign.
Victor Boniface was the man who got the winner early in the second half as he hammered in a rebound after having previously had a goal disallowed for offside in the first half, but Milan can feel hard done by for two reasons.
Firstly, the performance in the second half was much improved as they rattled the woodwork and tested the goalkeeper, then there is the fact that the referee and the VAR team chose not to award at least one penalty for incidents involving Tammy Abraham, Alvaro Morata and above all Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Gabbia spoke to Milan TV immediately after the full-time whistle to give his assessments after a game that was end-to-end and packed full of incidents, with MilanNews relaying his comments.
The aim must be to carry on from what we saw in the closing stages of the game…
“Yes, the reaction after the goal was very positive. But I think that during the whole match there was availability, there was organisation, there was a team on the pitch that tried to make up for those difficulties that are normal against a great team.
“I think that at this moment we have to analyse this match, take the positive, keep the anger, which is right that we have, as well as the disappointment, and then think about Sunday which is the most important thing now.”
What kind of opponent are Bayer Leverkusen?
“I don’t think I need to explain Bayer Leverkusen. They are a very strong team, with a lot of quality, with a lot of speed, pace. I think we prepared the game well, we played what we had to play, all united, all compact, we had our chances.
“It’s a shame about the goal we conceded, there’s a lot of anger about it, but I think that in the Champions League the most important thing now is that we still have six games left, we must remain confident, we must think about the future, because what we can change we must not look to the past and obviously try to change the results this season.”
I miss Bennacer
Give him the armband.