Ancelotti hails one of a kind

AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti lauded the performance of Andrea Pirlo after the talismanic midfielder's early goal set up a 2-1 victory against SL Benfica in Group D. The strike allowed the home team to adopt their "favourite ploy" of counterattacking and Ancelotti's Benfica counterpart José Antonio Camacho was left to salute the UEFA Champions League holders' experience.

Carlo Ancelotti, Milan coach
We opened the scoring early, forcing Benfica to play more open and this gave us the advantage of playing on the counterattack: our favourite ploy. We created several chances and even if we didn't score as many as we deserved, I'm happy about the performance of my players. This team can play very good football when the players are inspired as they were tonight. Pirlo played brilliantly; there are no midfielders around with his range of qualities and knowledge of the game. It's always nicer not to concede goals but I'm not angry for the one we conceded today, especially as the game was almost over.

José Antonio Camacho, Benfica coach
You pay for every mistake you make against a side like Milan. I don't blame our lack of experience because we were facing the best team in Europe. We played a decent game and lost 2-1. I don't know how many teams have done this well in recent years in Milan and how many will do the same this season. We had a few injuries to deal with and had to adapt. I tried to make as few changes as possible but it is not easy for players to come in and play a game like this. I'm satisfied with what we did tonight though: we created a few chances and I think the game would have been different if Óscar Cardozo had scored when he hit the post.