Yacine Adli admits Milan have only a ‘2-3 per cent chance’ of staying in the Champions League and really lost to Borussia Dortmund when Malick Thiaw got injured.
The Rossoneri knew this was a must-win match and had the ideal start when receiving an early penalty, but Olivier Giroud’s effort was saved.
Instead, Marco Reus converted a spot-kick at the other end and after Samuel Chukwueze’s solo effort equalised, Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Karim Adeyemi completed the 3-1 rout at San Siro.
“We are disappointed for the fans, it was a big opportunity today. We knew that the atmosphere would be behind us at San Siro, we had this pushing us on, but we were still unable to win,” Adli told Mediaset.
Thiaw pulled up clutching his hamstring and that seemed to be the moment when Milan really lost their way, especially as they had no other defenders available on the bench, so had to make tactical adjustments.
“At this level, the details make the difference. We started well, but did not convert that penalty. In the second half, we lost our balance and losing Malick also made it more difficult. We struggled to find the balance after that.”
It booked Borussia Dortmund’s ticket to the Round of 16 and means their only hope for qualification now is to beat Newcastle United at St. James’ Park and hope Dortmund beat PSG in Germany.
“We will give our all in Newcastle and try to win, but I’d say we have about a 2-3 per cent chance of qualifying now. We will give our all and hope for a positive result from Dortmund.”