Jose Mourinho: “It was a great classic”
Jose Mourinho expressed mixed feelings on his team’s 2-2 draw against AC Milan on Wednesday night in the group G clash of the UEFA Champions League.
Real Madrid opened the scoring against the Italians at the stroke of half-time, through their ace striker Gonzalo Higuain. The Argentinean successfully beat the off-side trap before slotting the ball home, after receiving a pass
from compatriot Angel Di Maria.
Milan were quick to respond and struck back in the second half through substitute Filippo Inzaghi, who capitalized on a rare Iker Casillas blunder. The Italian veteran striker doubled his tally for the night by scoring another
goal in the 78th minute and made the score line 2-1. Inzaghi’s 2nd goal was a controversial one as he was clearly off-side when the ball was played to him, but much to the fury of Madrid players, the linesman did not flag. However, Real
snatched victory right out of Milan’s teeth, when substitute Pedro Leon equalized in the 94th minute.
Jose admitted that Madrid should have taken their chances to finish off the tie, before the fight back from the home team.
Reflecting on the game, the former FC Internazionale boss said, “Overall, I cannot say that I am too happy with the result because we should kill them. We had chances to kill the game. But when you are losing 2-1 in the last minute
and you equalise you cannot say you are sad because you have had a bit of luck to score the equaliser. We qualify, we didn't lose. We keep going in the championship, the cup and the Champions League without a single defeat.”
When asked about Howard Webb's performance in the game, ‘The Special One’ said, “The best, or one of the best, in the world. The linesman made a mistake, which is part of the game and is not a problem”.
Mourinho returned to the San Siro for the 1st time, since leaving Inter Milan, and he got a hostile reception from AC Milan supporters. In reply to the fans’ reaction, the Portuguese waved three fingers in the air. After
the game, Mourinho revealed that the three-finger gesture was “just a pepper before the game”, to remind the people of Milan about his treble winning success with Inter.
With a draw, Mourinho advances his team into the next round as group G leaders, while he is yet to lose a match as Madrid’s manager. By qualifying as the winners of the group, Mourinho believes he can be handed a less tough opponent
in the round of 16.
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