Milan vintage pleases Ancelotti

"Simplicity and maturity" were the key to AC Milan's elimination of Celtic FC according to victorious coach Carlo Ancelotti. Despite falling to a winning goal in extra time by Kaká, Celtic manager Gordon Strachan reflected on a first run to the knockout stage which has served as "fantastic experience" for the Scottish champions.

Carlo Ancelotti, Milan coach
We won playing with simplicity and maturity but also by taking a few risks as our defenders, especially the full-backs, were pushing forward for most of the game. In the latter stages of the match we attacked with eleven players, probably risking too much. But the chances we created during that period gave us more confidence for extra time. Kaká is a great player and I don't take it as a bad thing when people say we are dependent on his performances. Milan always play their own way, no matter who the opponents are. Our philosophy is always the same - try to win every game. I don't think we are favourites to win the Champions League, but a few teams who were considered favourites are out of the tournament. If I had to choose one team I would like to face in the quarter-finals, I would say Liverpool.

Gordon Strachan, Celtic manager
Milan had more technique, but we had more determination. We have to improve the technical aspects of our game but I'm really proud with what my team has done. We gave our very best and only the goal was missing. We were fantastic from both an attacking and a defensive point of view. We have a lot of young players and this is a fantastic experience for us that will be extremely useful for the future. If we improve technically we can become tough opponents for anybody. I feared Milan would score in the latter stages of the 90 minutes when they pushed forward, forcing us to defend in the box. However, we believed until the end we could have scored.