ATHENS • AC Milan coach Gennaro Gattuso slammed his players for "making fools of ourselves" after bowing out of the Europa League following their shock 3-1 loss at Olympiakos.
"We gifted the game," he said after Thursday's Group F defeat in Athens, where all the goals came in the second half.
Pape Abou Cisse opened the scoring for the Greek side, whose lead was doubled after an own goal by Cristian Zapata.
The defender made amends by pulling one back for Milan, but Konstantinos Fortounis' penalty sealed the victory for the home side.
Gattuso also bemoaned the brittle nature of the seven-time European champions, who simply went to pieces after missing several opportunities to score.
"We were too naive and allowed Olympiakos to get back into the game. We are very upset because we always make the same mistakes again and again," he said.
"We had the game in our hands but, if you create seven or eight chances in a stadium like this and then fall apart the moment things go wrong, you deserve to go out."
17
Years since seven-time European champions AC Milan were knocked out of European competition at a group stage (Champions League in 2001) before Thursday's Europa League exit.
The former Italy midfielder, however, refused to blame the hostile atmosphere at the Karaiskaki Stadium, or the refereeing decisions which went against his team.
"You can talk about the referee, about them throwing extra balls on to the pitch and the strange trumpet noise, but we should focus on what we can do to make Milan a better team," he added.
"We have to look at ourselves. They were better than us because they were energetic and determined. I apologise to all the Milan fans around the world for not having achieved our objective."
The last-32 draw will be held on Monday, with Arsenal, Benfica, Real Betis, Chelsea, Dinamo Zagreb, Dynamo Kiev, Eintracht Frankfurt, Genk, Inter Milan, Bayer Leverkusen, Napoli, RB Salzburg, Sevilla, Valencia, Villarreal and Zenit St Petersburg all seeded for the next round.
REUTERS
Ikhsan Fandi scores first competitive goal for Norwegian club Ikhsan Fandi's (blue boots) Raufoss teammates chase him after his last-gasp goal gave his side a 3-2 win over Skeid Fotball. PHOTO
Football: Ikhsan Fandi scores first competitive goal for
Cardiff City's Kenneth Zohore struck deep into stoppage time to secure a crucial 2-1 win on Saturday away to fellow Premier League strugglers Southampton, who thought they had snatched a point with a 91st-minute leveller.
Klopp unfazed by early FA Cup exit, Football News & Top
Indian Football: 3 Deserving Players who could be called up for national team by new coach Igor Stimac MSN; School football coaches to be licenced , says Ogwel Daily Monitor; We need to keep improving: Singapore football association chief Lim Kia Tong The Straits Times; Qatar's 'Challenge 22' winning app SnapGoal aiming to unite football fans Goal
Lim Kia Tong elected new FAS president - ESPN
England Captain Harry Kane Wants to End Career as NFL Kicker Kane, the top scorer at last year's FIFA World Cup, has long been an admirer of American football and believes successfully switching sports late in his career will help him go down in history as one of the greatest sportsmen of all time.
England captain Harry Kane wants to end career as NFL kicker
Tigers riding high, Football News & Top Stories - The Straits
Ajax, who have won the trophy four times, most recently in 1995, reached the last eight of Europe's top competition for the first time since 2003 Holder Real Madrid were sensationally knocked out of the Champions League Tuesday after being thrashed 4-1 at home by an outstanding Ajax Amsterdam who
Shellshocked Madrid knocked out of Champions League by
Football: PSG buy Argentina midfielder Paredes for estimated
Gareth Bale '100 per cent' committed to Real Madrid despite
A men's volleyball match between Iran and the US in Tehran on Friday could be a key test for an easing of a ban on female spectators, but for hardliners any change will be a step too far, the BBC
England national football team - Wikipedia
Spalletti leaves Inter Milan with Conte set to take over Milan (UNITED STATES Sporting Activity)- Luciano Spalletti has actually left Inter Milan, the Serie A club introduced on Thursday, with previous Italy supervisor Antonio Conte readied to be introduced as the club's brand-new trainer..
Inter news: 'Antonio Conte can give more than Jose Mourinho
Kane Making 'Fantastic' Recovery, Says Spurs Boss Pochettino
Football: Solskjaer maintains perfect start as Man United
Real Madrid, Atletico close in on Barcelona Description: The hosts came roaring back in the second half, twice forcing fine saves from Jan Oblak before Fernando Calero scored for the hosts from a 56th-minute corner.
Real Madrid, Atletico close in on Barcelona
LEICESTER, United Kingdom (AFP) - Newcastle took a huge step towards securing their Premier League survival as Ayoze Perez sealed a 1-0 win against Leicester on Friday (April 12).. Read more at
Perez heads Newcastle closer to Premier League safety
0 comments:
Post a Comment