Giordy71@
00martedì 6 marzo 2012 23:46
AC Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri was upbeat about his side's chances in the Champions League after they survived a big scare at Arsenal to reach the quarter-finals.
The injury-hit Italian champions looked like they might throw away the 4-0 advantage they had from the home leg of the last-16 tie when they went 3-0 down in the first half of the return at London's Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.
But they did not concede any more goals in the second half, in part thanks to two stunning saves in quick succession by keeper Christian Abbiati, and went through to the last eight 4-3 on aggregate.
"The guys must have thought I looked a little overweight and so they found a way to get me to slim down in the first half," Allegri quipped after the tense match.
"I'm sorry about the defeat, but we achieved our aim. "I was aware that we could have problems because the real Arsenal don't play like they did in the first leg.
"This game was fundamentally important for our season.
"We got the match wrong on the technical level, we played the ball too slowly. The important thing was to get through to the next round. "Real Madrid and Barcelona are the best teams in Europe at the moment but when we get back to full strength we'll be up there as well". The result ends a series of exits in the first knockout round of Europe's premier club competition since Milan won it for the seventh time in 2007.
"After four years of going out in the last 16, making it to the quarterfinals was important for the club," Allegri said.
"We're back among the top eight in Europe and next season we'll be one of the seeded teams".