Tonali believes Milan must learn from experience after failing to qualify for the Champions League group

DBasia.news – Seven years. That is the wait for AC Milan to play in the Champions League until the end of the wait occurs this season (2021-2022). Uniquely, the number seven also became the acquisition of the Il Rossoneri Champions League trophy.

Milan is the second team after Real Madrid (13 trophies) with the most Champions League titles. However, the current Milan is not the legendary Milan in the 1980s or 1990s which was inhabited by top names.

There is no more Paolo Maldini leading and guarding the back line with Alessandro Nesta in front of Dida, no Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso and Clarence Seedorf leading the midfield, and Kaka and Filippo Inzaghi in attack.

Milan this season is in the Hell group B with Liverpool, Atletico Madrid and Porto. The four traditional clubs in Europe. But when it comes to experience, Milan is like a debutant in the Champions League.

Sure enough, their journey stumbled in the group phase. In the first three matches, Milan won three successive defeats against Liverpool (2-3), Atletico (1-2), and Porto (0-1).

Milan started to bounce back in the fourth game with a 1-1 draw against Porto, a dramatic win in Spain against Atletico (1-0) which was their first win. Hope also appeared ahead of Liverpool’s opponent.

Milan need a win and hope their rivals fail to win. However, against Liverpool, who have swept five games in a row with a win, qualifying for the knockout phase, Milan are still struggling to win.

The Reds are still too tough even though Jurgen Klopp rotates the squad. Liverpool won 2-1 from goals by Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi who replied to Fikayo Tomori’s goal. As a result, Milan was stranded at the bottom of the standings with four points: one win, one draw, four defeats.

Milan’s young midfielder, Sandro Tonali is realistic with Milan’s current situation. According to him Milan must learn from the experience in the Champions League this season.

“We knew it was a tough game, because even without some of their first-choice players Liverpool have so much strength in depth,” Tonali told Sky Sport Italia.

“We learned from the experience against these top teams and that’s what we will bring going forward. We could have done more, that’s always true, but we didn’t hold back today and couldn’t turn back time.”

“All we can do now is continue our path and focus on the next goal,” explained the former Brescia midfielder.

Milan were eliminated from the Champions League, but they still have two targets to pursue, namely the hunt for the Scudetto and the Coppa Italia.