Slavia Praha boss Jindrich Trpisovsky was left frustrated as his side again went down to 10 men early to kill the contest against AC Milan, but he did reveal an interesting story involving Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alessandro Florenzi.
Milan secured a comfortable win away at Slavia Praha yesterday evening and thus advanced to the quarter-finals of the Europa League with a 7-3 aggregate victory.
Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic were the two key players as they each scored and got an assist, something reflected in our player ratings, but the Czech side were left to lick their wounds again after another early red.
The game stopped again in the 18th minute when Calabria writhed around in serious pain on the floor after getting his ankle stood on by Holes. After a VAR review, the referee Nyberg gave a red, and Milan would score three times before the break to kill the tie entirely.
Trpišovský spoke at his post-match press conference to try and assess what was a difficult night for his side after they went a man down so early again, with his comments relayed by PianetaMilan.
How do you evaluate the second leg?
“We had a positive start to the match. We immediately had a chance, the first set piece, which unfortunately we did not exploit as much as we could have. After that we had such a ricochet and another shot, which unfortunately did not end in a goal.
“Then came the red card that cut the match in half. It’s disappointing for me. We were looking forward to seeing a great match and great football. After a while the red card arrived . It was difficult for us. There is one less of us.
“Milan showed great footballing quality in their attacking actions. We played such spontaneous football that we wanted to move forward, leaving a lot of space in the flank areas, where they left us 1-on-1 and managed to get past.
“The first goal came from a situation that we didn’t want and for which we had prepared ourselves. Big disappointment, we couldn’t wait, fans paid the entrance fee, but in the end we played most of the match one less.”
Even in Milan you were disappointed by the fact that it wasn’t 11v11, but then the red was more evident that time. How do you feel this time? It seemed that Olivier Giroud also told you something…
“Very difficult. You spend hours preparing with the team for what will be on the pitch. You spend a week on a video and suddenly everything disappears because of one decision. This is difficult.
“I only saw Diouf’s red card live, I only watched the video after the match. In a way you get used to it, but this is different. We didn’t say anything to Giroud, we just didn’t understand that the referee’s decision took so long .
“I’m really sad that something like this suddenly ends an interesting contest out of nowhere. I don’t understand, it’s incomprehensible to me. Holeš knew nothing about Calabria, he couldn’t see him.
“Yes, if you put that shot on repeat at high speed and then stop the shot at the moment when the legs touch, looks terrible. The referee saw and decided.
“We are very sorry that we were not able to fight with them in full. I hope that next year we will find an equally amazing opponent and we will make up for this disappointment.”
How does Tomáš Holeš feel?
“I didn’t even see him. He must feel terrible. He will now be banned for the Champions League qualifiers. I can’t say anything to Tomáš, it’s complicated for him. He was really looking forward to it.
“Then you go out in the fifteenth minute and you know that you will miss out on the qualifiers. We have to help him. At least we know that he will play on Sunday because he will be fresh. At least some good news for him. Difficult, I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.”
Did Mister Pioli shake your hand in Milan? Have you spoken to each other now after the rematch?
“He welcomed me to their house before the match and I welcomed him to our house. It also sometimes happens to me in the league that a person is disappointed by a match and disappears, or is elsewhere, and then looks for the coach.
“On Sunday I was also with the fans, with the players, then I went to see coach Frťala in the cabin. I’m not looking for anyone, sometimes it happens.
“We spoke with Florenzi in Milan at half-time, now with Zlatan. They came on their own, showing us great respect, pitying us for having played twice with ten men. But we felt a lot of respect from the Milan players, I really appreciate it.
“Zlatan waited for me and looked for me. We need to inculcate this concept in the players’ heads, as the best European players perceive them. We need to bring it to the league. Our team can play football, we just need to know how to manage crisis situations better.”
Nice gesture by Ibra and Flo