AC Milan defender Simon Kjaer couldn’t help but send some criticism towards the referee after he gave away a penalty during the 3-2 defeat against Rennes in the Europa League.
Milan were in command after the 3-0 first leg win and at half-time on the night in Brittany they were in good shape too, with Benjamin Bourigeaud’s early strike cancelled out by Luka Jovic’s header to make it 1-1.
However, the hosts began to believe once again when they were awarded a spot kick in the 54th minute when Kjaer attempted to get the ball ahead of Terrier but brought him down, and Bourigeaud scored from the spot.
Rafael Leao would equalise again to make it 2-2 on the night and reopen the three-goal aggregate lead, and while Bourigeaud scored again from the spot it was ultimately too little too late for Julien Stephan’s men.
Kjaer spoke to Sky at the end of the game to reflect on what was a difficult evening in the end but ultimately an aggregate win despite losing on the night. His words were relayed by MilanNews.
How do you think the game went?
“We were aware that they could start well, but we could have closed it out in the first half, we had the opportunity to take the lead 2-3 times. We managed the first 15 minutes well, then the referee started to decide things.
“First time in my career I heard a referee who after 10 minutes said that we had to start again quickly with Maignan. The important thing is that we achieved qualification.”
Pioli says that Milan must always score one more goal…
“On that we must take advantage of the opportunities we create, today we had many.”
What are the ambitions in Europe?
“We have to face any team to win [the competition]. Any team there is we can beat. We have a strong team and we are fine.”
