Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan thanked Inter for their 3-0 win in the Coppa Italia semi-final second leg which he said motivated the Rossoneri to win Serie A.
The Nerazzurri progressed comfortably to final, having drawn the first leg 0-0, while the title destiny was in their own hands as they sat two points behind Milan but with a game in hand.
Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport, Maignan said: “Thank you to Inter: after the 3-0 we had the bit between our teeth. That defeat really motivated us.”
In Inter’s next match, they beat Roma 3-1 and would have overtaken Milan with a win away at Bologna. However, they slipped to a shock 2-1 defeat to hand Milan the initiative with four matches remaining and Maignan said he knew at that moment the title was theirs.
He added: “When Inter tripped up at Bologna, we knew it was over for them because, by that point, we were focused only on ourselves.”
Despite an impressive season on a personal level where, as well as the Serie A title, Maignan also won the Best Goalkeeper award, there was negative note as the 26-year-old was subjected to racist abuse during a match at Cagliari.
Asked about the incident, he said: “It’s something which has been going on for years and I won’t be the last. After Cagliari, I was called in to give my version but nothing happened.
“I was fortunate enough to have been supported by Milan but in the Italian and European institutions, there are those don’t care about punishing guilty people.
“Complaining is no longer enough. So it’s up to us players to do something.”
Intervista a #Maignan: "È un #Milan da pazzi, lo riporto al vertice in Europa col mio idolo Ibrahimovic" https://t.co/n43v6qMkz6
— La Gazzetta dello Sport (@Gazzetta_it) May 30, 2022
He also must thank the refs who ignored the clear fouls of Tonali against Lazio and Kalulu against Atalanta before Milan scored illegitimate goals. A one off fluke season that will not happen again.
Maignan can thank Radu for the Inter loss at Bologna! LOL
Maignan can thank Radu! LOL
Very true Flavio, but Inter have a much larger wage bill, deeper squad and could not retain the title. That is worse then letting a team with their depth win it regardless of a fluke or not.
You both are so hurt, sorry! Eh pain dem well well.
@Flavio Amado: But then Milan had points stolen from them against both Spezia and Napoli, so even if those were fouls by Tonali and Kalulu (I don’t think they were), it all evened itself out in the end.
@ Flavio Amado
Awwwww..: still sore? If anything odds has improvement. Accept the fact that Milan was the best team throughout the season, we had a sea of ref calls that went against us so just stop
Meaningless comments from Inter fans will be fotogen by the next post. Milan‘s Scudetto will be remembered forever. Don’t try too hard 😉
Radu’s howler didn’t affect the result in the end, because if not for that Inter would have drawn that game (obviously, ignoring the butterfly effect) and still lost the title. We could also say that if the ref hadn’t blown the whistle too early against Spezia, Milan would have come out of that game with 3 points instead of 0, again making the Bologna game moot even if Inter had won it.
Inter stil would have needed to win against Bologna so NO Inter did not loose because of Radu..
Inter fans are blaming Radu for their failures, first of without Radus misstake Inter would gane one more point in the match against Bologna so still not enough! And secondly Inter togheter with Juventus were build to win the scudetto looking on the size of the squads and how much they spend on it, so for Milan winning the scudetto Inter have only them selves to blaim for not being able to deliver when it materd the most. With that squad they should be Champions already by week 33 but they simply did not rise to the expectations this season and that is neither Milan, the refs or specially Radus fault.
R. Bonora, even a 1-1 against Bologna would have had the same result in the title race.
It seems these folks can’t enjoy what they achieve without thinking of Inter! Imagine you celebrate when the other team is stock in your head.
Fluke or no fluke, points don’t lie.
Ungracious now, are we?
Lol these inter fans completely forgot that they got lots of ‘gifts’ from the referee last season, played easier final fixtures compared to their ‘inferior’ city rival, and yet, they still couldn’t win the scudetto.
I feel like AC Milan are doing the most. Keep in mind that had Inter won against Bologna, this would have been a whole different conversation.Winning the league on the last day certainly proves that the race was evenly contested. All the taunts and interviews mean that y’all are obsessed with Inter Milan. Enjoy the title because it’s certainly going to be a lot tougher to defend with the likes of Juve and Inter revamping their squads.
@flavio none of them were fouls as long as other referees have told. However, if we are going to be fair, let’s talk about all the favours Inter received like Belotti’s penalty, Handanovic not being sent off against Atalanta or the robberies in Milan games against Spezia and Udinese. Fair is fair
Bitter.
Considering Inter had multiple referring decisions in their favour this season, justice was done. If this hadn’t been the case, Milan would have won well before tge final game.Let’s
Hope the corruption stops next season but I have my doubts. As an aside, Inter you play such boring football!!!
Flavio , don’t forget the clear foul by Giroud on Sanchez, before Milan‘s equalizer in the 2nd derby of the season.
Who Maignan should really thank is Radu for his mistake against Bologna, Terraciano for giving them a goal on a silver platter, in the Fiorentina game, and Acerbi’s glaring error that he laughed about, in the 91st minute of the Lazio game.
How that lot hasn’t been investigated for match fixing is beyond me.
You can’t fluke a season, you can’t fluke 38 matches. Smh!
@Viktor
A sea of ref calls against you haha only in your head. Roma alone were robbed 6 points against Milan. Inter were robbed against Milan (Giroud foul), Lazio were robbed against Milan (Tonali foul), Atalanta were robbed against Milan (Kalulu foul), Venezia were robbed against Milan (Florenzi pk), Napoli were robbed against Milan (Tomori on Osimhen pk). That outweighs the Spezia game your club cried about so much.
Any mention of dubious or favorable referree decisions that make no mention of the disallowed goal of Junior Messias are so inherently biased they do not merit a response.
Mistakes happen, it’s part of football. They always have, VAR is just the latest attempt at fixing it and it is far from perfect.
in the endz the fact that Milan, with a clearly inferior squad to both Inter and Juve, possibly Napoli as well, managed to win this scudetto really just means they WON it, and the others lost, rather than what Juve have done for a decade – Buying titles, not winning a competition. (Not buying in the referee dressing rooms, but on the transfer market, this isn’t a calciopoli reference)
Three different winners the last 3 seasons, let’s enjoy the fact calcio is exciting again and see if Redbird and Maldini can keep the clubs progress going to catch up with Juve and Inter on squads… The fact Inter are selling their best to balance the books and Milan are finally solid financially should be a huge concern for the rivals.
Hope we fluke another 38 matches next season.