AC Milan midfielder Sandro Tonali believes that he and his team-mates gave their all in the Champions League but admitted that they fell short.
Milan went into tonight knowing that a win against Liverpool and the right result between Porto and Atletico Madrid could have secured an unlikely passage to the last 16, but the Rossoneri did not manage to pull out any heroics in front of a packed out San Siro as they were beaten 2-1 by a mostly second string Liverpool side.
Everything seemed to be going so well when Fikayo Tomori’s close range finish from a corner opened the scoring, Mo Salah tucked in a rebound to make it 1-1 and then Divock Origi did the same in the second half.
Tonali spoke to Sky Italia after the game against Liverpool, with his comments transcribed by MilanNews.
“It was a difficult match, we knew them. Even without the front lines, they created problems for us. We have to grow, we carry this experience with us,” he said.
“We could have done something more. But we know that we gave our all and we never pulled back. We have to go ahead and think about the only goal left.”
Tonali also spoke to Milan TV after the game too and confessed that the smallest details make a big difference at such a high level, which is something that Milan found out the hard way.
“Surely what we bring inside, every little detail can make the difference. We paid for it in all the matches, so many goals came from our mistakes. We’re sorry, we paid for tonight too,” he said.
Tonali also spoke on the difference between the Champions League and Serie A in terms of the demands of the game.
“In the Champions League there is a greater level and intensity than in the league, it is a very high difference that the great teams must immediately understand and get into the game immediately. They are teams that go to a thousand for ninety minutes, if you let go for a moment it can hurt you at any moment.
“It’s an experience that can help us also in the league, it hurts now, it hurts to leave the groups but it can do us good. These are small things that make you understand that one last fundamental step is missing for Milan, which is however due arrive very quickly. We have to go out with our heads held high and immediately turn the page from tomorrow and be focused on one goal.”
RATINGS: AC Milan 1-2 Liverpool – Krunic the stand-out; unfocused Theo
It did not look like they were even trying. No one was trying to make any runs or do anything.Everyone was extremely slow…giving the ball away cheaply,getting turned by youngsters….There is no reason to think this team will be better prepared next time.How long does it take to adjust? This was the 6th game and if you cannot adjust after 5 games,what is going on? This was Liverpool’s bench..and they still dominated in our stadium in a game that we had to win