Milan unbowed despite Coppa exit

AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri said his side would hold their heads high after being knocked out of the Coppa Italia by Juventus.

Milan had gone into Tuesday’s second leg trailing 2-1 after their meeting at the San Siro last month, but the visitors managed to force extra time, after replying to Alessandro Del Piero’s 28th-minute opener with second-half goals from Djamel Mesbah and Maxi Lopez.

Mirko Vucinic’s stunning long-range strike ultimately settled the tie in the hosts’ favour in extra time, but Allegri saw no reason to be downbeat afterwards, insisting Milan will have no problems picking themselves back up for Saturday’s crucial Serie A clash with Roma.

“Milan have gone out with their heads held high,” Allegri told Rai. “I’m happy with the performance from the lads.”

“It’s a pity that we haven’t been able to reach the final, but we brought some players back who had not played for a while.”

“In extra-time we were very tired, we had expended a lot of energy and we were not able to really attack them.”

“We will be ready for Saturday as we have four days to recuperate. A few players did not play tonight, while some others were effectively only on the field for a half, like (Antonio) Nocerino and (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic.”

“I’m confident ahead of our upcoming matches because the team played a good game tonight.”

Ibrahimovic had been replaced during the half-time interval, sparking fears he might not be available for Roma’s visit, but Allegri insisted the Sweden international’s withdrawal had been a purely precautionary measure.

“Ibrahimovic still had some back pain so I decided to take him off,” Allegri said.