© EuroFootball.com
Players who made it to the final of the UEFA Champions League after a dramatic battle admit that luck smiled upon them in Wednesday's match against Eindhoven. The Dutch team managed to equalize the overall score, but M. Ambrosini's goal in the last minute snatched the victory for the Italian champions club.
"I am not used to scoring in the Champions League too often, this is my first time," - said Ambrosini - "It was a good match, and PSV definitely deserved to win, but the matches last 180 minutes, and we scored an important away goal. Clearly, we had problems trying not to give them space, and denying that is pointless."
"Milan's" attacking leader A. Shevchenko scored in the first leg, but in the second leg he almost had no chances. The Ukrainian admitted that this time luck was on their side: "Every match is tough now, and we knew that would happen, but the most important thing is that we did not repeat last year's loss to Deportivo. This time we were lucky thanks to M. Ambrosini's goal, although soon after conceding a goal again, we risked experiencing unexpected failure. Nevertheless, I think Milan deserved to play in the final due to all the work we have put in the tournament so far."
Holland's J. Stam had to play against his former club, and these tough matches surprised him less than any other Milan team player: "We were pressed all over the field throughout the game. When PSV gets space to play, they can cause you a lot of problems because they are a good team. We are heading to Istanbul and I am happy about that, but I am disappointed that we conceded three goals."
Italian team coach C. Ancelotti said that his players failed to implement what they had planned and the opponents dictated the terms of the game: "It was difficult for us to execute the game we had planned because PSV could easily keep the ball in their half of the field. That early goal added pressure to us and raised their confidence in their abilities, but we conceded the second goal in our best period of the match. This made everything more complicated, and then it became even harder to fight."
PSV coach G. Hiddink believes that his team played very well until the last minute, but was disappointed to exit the Champions League: "We were very close until the last minute when we lost everything. We played great football against one of the best teams in the world and we created a good advertisement for Dutch football. Unfortunately, in the second half I had to make changes, and we lost some initiative. Milan showed us a lot of respect, and we showed that a lot can be achieved, thanks to the players' ambitions. They gained a lot of experience and learned the most basic things. I am disappointed only in how we had to exit the Champions League."
PSV captain M. Van Bommel was particularly dismayed, unable to hide his frustration and disappointment: "Things didn't go our way today. It was very disappointing. When you play better than Milan in two matches, you deserve to win, but they scored away, and that's what matters the most. We were the better team. It's a painful blow."
