Allegri content, Barcelona rue early 'error'
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
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Massimiliano Allegri was "satisfied" after his AC Milan team's 1-1 home draw with FC Barcelona, who "deserved more" from the Group H contest according to Gerardo Martino.
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Massimiliano Allegri, Milan coach
The boys played well, giving Barcelona no room to be dangerous and hitting them on the counter. We made just one mistake defensively and they punished us. We created more chances tonight than in the match we won [2-0] last season [against Barcelona in the round of 16], but this is a good result because we still have a two-point advantage over Celtic. Kaká gave a wonderful performance, showing he is a great player with his commitment to the team.
When you face Barcelona you need to have a thousand eyes, because they can come at you from everywhere. Our defence coped pretty well with the help of the midfielders and forwards. We also played good football up front and I'm satisfied with the display.
Gerardo Martino, Barcelona coach
When you think in terms of qualifying for the next round, the result is a good one. Looking at the game, we deserved more. We didn't start well and that led to us conceding a goal. Robinho and Kaká made life complicated for us at the beginning. After we drew level we had four or five chances to win it.
It was similar to what happened against Osasuna [0-0 at the weekend] – we controlled the game and did enough to win. We had chances and tried to take the three points, but in the end we couldn't. [The result] doesn't take away from the efforts of the team – in fact, it puts us in a favourable position. We moved the ball well, while Milan very seldom got forward. We committed one error at the start of the match and paid too high a price for that. Now we look ahead to [Real] Madrid [on Saturday] and the team we will put together.