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Carlo Ancelotti, the coach of the Italian team, stated that they can still reach the final of the UEFA Champions League despite the 1-0 loss at home on Tuesday in the first leg of the semi-final. The only goal of the match was scored in the 57th minute by Ludovicas Giuly of France after a great pass from Brazilian Ronaldinho from the left corner of the penalty area.
"This is not a good result, but I think we still have a decent chance to win in Barcelona," said C. Ancelotti after the Tuesday loss, which was the first one in 13 European cup matches played at home. "We don't need a miracle, but we must play exceptional matches if we want to advance."
"Considering how we played and how many chances we had, I think the result is unfair to us. I hope we will be rewarded in the second leg," said Ancelotti. "Barcelona has certainly improved its chances of reaching the final, but this loss was not decisive."
Ancelotti was disappointed that the team failed to convert four good opportunities into goals: "We paid for the lack of precision in the attacking third. We created several great chances, but we failed to capitalize on them."
"Milan" played without the striker Filippo Inzaghi, who was suffering from a virus infection, on Tuesday, but Ancelotti did not criticize Alberto Gilardino, who replaced him on the field and played one of the best matches of the season in the UEFA Champions League, despite missing several good scoring opportunities and hitting the post once.
"Everyone played well. It was difficult to play against such a high-level team, but everyone gave their all," Ancelotti concluded.
Meanwhile, Barcelona's coach Frank Rijkaard, who once represented Milan alongside Ancelotti, did not hide his joy after the match.
"This is a very important result, so I want to congratulate all the players of the team," said the Dutchman. "We played in a 'difficult' stadium against a top-level team, so it wasn't easy. I have said before that these matches will be a great opportunity to test our abilities. Now we have better chances to advance."
"We shouldn't forget that Milan created several opportunities to score," Rijkaard commented on the match. "Initially, they surprised us a bit, and then they caused us a lot of problems. They played really well and had chances to score."
