Giroud reflects on ‘perfect evening’ and reveals motivation behind his ‘A’ celebration | OneFootball

AC Milan secured their passage into the last 16 of the Champions League with a 4-0 rout of Red Bull Salzburg, and it was thanks to a rampant and clinical Olivier Giroud.

Giroud was simply unplayable on the night as he scored twice and assisted twice meaning he had a hand in all four of Milan’s goals as the Rossoneri cruised into the knockout stages of the Champions League.

He scored a header from a corner to settle the nerves early on before then assisting Rade Krunic who scored a header of his own, and then the Frenchman buried a loose ball from close range before sending Junior Messias through to add some icing on the cake in the final seconds.

After the game Giroud spoke to Prime Video to reflect on the performance of the team as a whole but also on what was a very memorable night for him, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.

On the perfect evening: “Perfect evening for me and for the team. I am proud of the team spirit. We wanted to have a great match and we did it.”

On the second round: “Last year we were in the ‘group of death’. It was a good experience but we were disappointed with the elimination. This year we reached the round of 16. Now we can concentrate on the league. I’m happy for the fans, if they deserved it.”

On the match: “In the first half they pressed and ran a lot. We could have scored more goals, then we started the second half strong and ended the game.”

On the celebration after the goal: “I made the ‘A’ sign after the goal, I dedicate it to Saelemaekers.”

Giroud also spoke to Sky, with his comments transcribed by MilanNews.

On the win: “The most important thing for us is to make the fans proud of us. Tonight was an important night. I think the team had a great reaction after the defeat against Torino.”

On finding new life as a player: “It’s not a new life for me, I feel young and I feel good on the pitch. I am very proud of my teammates, we do a good job. I have great hopes for the future.”

On the target in Europe: “We do not set limits, we know that now another competition begins with two matches home and away. We don’t know what can happen, we’re going to play against a great team. We are ready, with these guys we can do great things.”

On how to finish this first part of the season: “We want to be as close as possible to Napoli before the World Cup break. After I will think about the national team and the World Cup. I’ll be back energised for the second part of the season.”

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