Zlatan Ibrahimovic believes that AC Milan did ‘very well’ over their two legs against Manchester United but were knocked out due to a missed clearance.
The tie was beautifully poised heading into the return fixture thanks to Simon Kjaer’s injury time equaliser in the first leg, which cancelled out Amad Diallo’s header that had given the home side an undeserved lead based on the balance of play.
In the end the return leg would be a very cagey one too and it was one goal that decided it from a €100m man off the bench, as Paul Pogba lifted the ball into the roof of the net from close range to give United the goal they needed to go through.
Milan were the better side overall in the two legs but injuries was their undoing, and Ibrahimovic believes that it is a big missed opportunity. He spoke to Sky Italia at the end of the game, with his comments transcribed by MilanNews and translated below.
On elimination: “There is a lot of disappointment, it’s normal, we did very well in two games, we missed a ball and conceded a goal. We had to make better use of the opportunities.”
At the moment: “Zlatan needs to return to the field to help the team, the season is not over. We have to go on and continue this season. Today we didn’t deserve to go out but this is football, you also learn from negative moments to grow. Let’s go forward”.
On absences: “I don’t want to have excuses, there are 24 of us, everyone is ready to play. It is an intense moment, but everyone takes their responsibilities and plays. We enter the field to give our best.”
On the Champions League target: “We need to come back stronger, learn from mistakes and improve even more. We need to grow and become stronger. Sunday is played to keep going.”
On his future: “I want to play to win something, we’re second, we have to continue like this to try to win the Scudetto. Then if we get to the Champions League it’s nice, but the goal is to win a trophy. I can’t say anything about next year, at the moment we’re here.”
On the growth of Milan in the last year: “The team believes in what they are doing, we have grown in the mentality. From the first day I see that the team works, sacrifices itself, then brings this into the matches. The players have the winning mentality, no one accepts to lose, even in training, this is what I brought. Even individually, many have grown up, take responsibility, understand what needs to be done to be at the top.”
On Pogba: “He’s very strong, everyone knows, it’s no secret. It all depends on how well you are in a team.”
He’s a great player, but he’s a distraction, he’s an unstable egomaniac and he’s too expensive. I think the Milan project would be better served by spending the money Ibra’s renewal would cost on a complete overhaul up front – three promising young strikers from around Europe (not Belotti, please!)