Zlatan Ibrahimovic has blasted Milan for the manner of their European defeat to Arsenal, but also admits relief that the Rossoneri progressed regardless.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has blasted Milan for the manner of their European defeat to Arsenal, but also admits relief that the Rossoneri progressed regardless.
The Italians went into the Champions League Last 16 second leg in London with a four-goal advantage over Arsene Wenger’s side from the first leg at San Siro.
However, Arsenal scored three goals before half-time to leave the encounter on edge, with the Gunners needing just one more to take the match to extra-time. Whilst that did not happen and Il Diavolo now move on into the quarter-finals, Ibrahimovic has warned his teammates to sort themselves out.
“If you play for a great club like Milan, this cannot happen,” Ibra told the Swedish Press on Wednesday.
“You can lose in many ways, but how we lost this time was not acceptable. We’re Milan and we must be stronger and more stable.
“We tried to calm each other down but it was not a simple situation. We made trivial mistakes, I think we were thinking too much of the advantage gained in the first leg, we were too cautious and did not play our game.”
Massimiliano Allegri was forced into fielding three strikers on the night, because he had only had three fully-fit midfielders available to start the match.
The 30-year-old Ibra, who scored once and assisted twice in the first leg’s 4-0 win, struggled to make any impact at the Emirates and believes the formation was to blame.
“I felt out of position all the time when we played with three strikers.
“It’s a relief that we’re through to the next round. Every time they attacked you started thinking: ‘what if they score a fourth goal?’
“During half-time, Allegri told us to calm down. We all tried to cheer each other up, but it’s not easy when you’re down 3-0.
“We won’t take anything with us from this game. We just have to learn from our mistakes.”