Pep Guardiola has claimed that he is not surprised to see AC Milan and Inter facing off against each other in the Champions League semi-finals.
Exactly twenty years after the last time, the Rossoneri will once again play a two-legged derby against the Nerazzurri to fight for a place in the final where the winner of the other semi between Manchester City and Real Madrid will await.
Milan beat Napoli 2-1 on aggregate in an all-Italian quarter-final against the runaway leaders of Serie A, while Inter beat Benfica 5-3 over two legs having won the first leg 2-0 and having also knocked their rivals Porto out in the previous round, setting up a showcase in the semis.
Guardiola spoke about Italian football and the semi-final between the two Milanese clubs including what history can do for a side like the Rossoneri, with his comments published in La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Let’s start from the other semi-final, the Milan derby. Were you expecting it or are you surprised to see Inter and Milan back at the top of Europe?
“I saw the match on Tuesday evening in Naples and the Azzurri impressed me. Those against Milan have always been very hard-fought matches this year. You win or lose by such narrow margins that they make a difference,” he said.
“Now must we say that Napoli are a bad team because they are out of the Champions League? No, because I have seen them and I was impressed with how they played. Napoli will win the Scudetto. And we will see next year what they will do again in the Champions League.
“Napoli are so far ahead of Milan in the league, and people believe that in the Champions League it is the same thing. But instead Milan in Europe change their chip.
“It’s a club like Bayern Munich that I’ve just met and that I know well, they’ve been great in the past, I don’t know how many cups they’ve won.
“I remember Arrigo Sacchi, Fabio Capello, Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini, Costacurta… In short, they are history… And it counts. That’s why these teams are so strong.
“Milan in Naples also played well, they won in the league, they won the first leg in Europe 1-0, then the 1-1 draw the other night with a penalty for Napoli that could have been awarded. I repeat, it was a very close match.”
Fair comments but it’s like those two pens we should’ve had in the first leg never happened.