Milan beat Newcastle United 2-1 away in the sixth round of the Champions League group stage to reach the Europa League knockout play-offs by finishing third in the group, with manager Stefano Pioli speaking to Amazon Prime Video after the game.
The first game. We should have won the first game because we played in a brilliant way. In the end, we didn't manage to qualify for the knockout ......We're very sorry for that, we care a lot about the Champions League. The Europa League is an important competition and Milan have never won it. It was a night of mixed joy and sorrow because Milan had not won in England since 2005 and we fought for it and believed in it. I'm happy with the win, but I'm still regretful and disappointed about leaving the Champions League.
We have to do everything we can to go as far as we can, we all know this group stage is very difficult and from now on we will focus on the Europa League and do our best.
We now have to try to do well in the league and consolidate the third place, but at the same time with a mentality of desire, ambition and desire to do more. Then, it is clear that Milan's minimum goal this season is to finish in the top four. We haven't found the necessary streak in the league to get more points and take the lead in the standings, and we still have a long way to go until the end of the season, and we can't draw conclusions at this time. Now let's focus on the league because we have important games to play and we have to get back to winning again. For clubs and fans, finishing in the top four is a very important minimum goal.
The reflection is that we certainly didn't do as well in the Champions League as we did last year, but now we have a chance to do better in the league. We're not halfway through the league yet, there's still a lot of games to play.
I believe in the potential of this team. I regret that I was not able to make the most of this potential and now we have to work hard to improve. I just regret it, I believe it's a strong team and it can do better than tonight.