Milan general manager Adriano Galliani insists this is not the end of an era and it was “a choice” to focus on the Club World Cup.
“This is not the end of an era. We put the priority on Japan and winning the Club World Cup. It was our choice.
“We knew it would cost a great deal in terms of physical and psychological energy, but it remains an historic season and there is no need to change.”
The Rossoneri were the reigning Champions League winners and also took the Club World Cup and European Super Cup, but exited the competition 2-0 to Arsenal.
“I believe Arsenal played better than we did over the 180 minutes and so deserved to go through. No club has won the Champions League twice in a row since us in 1990-91, so we couldn’t break that taboo,” said Galliani.
“We did really well in the opening 15-20 minutes and there was a period of Arsenal pressure, but we conceded a goal right when Arsenal seemed to be on a downward spiral.
“Unfortunately it was decided in midfield and we had some players returning from injury, others out completely like Clarence Seedorf, so it was very bad timing.
“This is football and we must focus on our next challenge. Let’s not forget we are the club with the most trophies in the world and in 2007 we won three prestigious cups.”
There were reports Carlo Ancelotti would be sacked if he failed to reach the Champions League semi-finals, but Galliani painted a different picture.
“Our President Silvio Berlusconi is fantastic and told the players that we can’t always win in football, so we have to keep going.
“It is a great shame that after so many years we went out in the second round, but we were unlucky to pick Arsenal so early.
“We did our duty and won our group, but Arsenal came second in theirs, so we crossed paths.”
Always the superstitious type, the Milan transfer guru looked to the future.
“We have reached the Champions League Final in odd years – 2003, 2005 and 2007 – so we book our ticket for 2009.”
