Ibrahimovic defends Theo after Champions League exit but admits ‘we killed ourselves’ | OneFootball

After Milan’s draw against Feyenoord, which knocked them out of the Champions League, Zlatan Ibrahimovic spoke to the media. He stated that the Rossoneri killed themselves, making too many mistakes over 180 minutes.

Milan more or less dominated the game up until Theo Hernandez’s red card, which completely changed the situation. Conceicao’s subs in the second half also didn’t help, as Feyenoord were suddenly allowed to push forward given the lack of proper pressing from the Rossoneri.

Speaking to Sky after the game, as cited by MilanNews, Ibrahimovic that Milan killed themselves rather than Feyenoord playing good football. However, he also defended Theo Hernandez by saying that he is ‘not an actor’.

What are your feelings after the match?

“We are disappointed and angry. I think that maturity was lacking. As for Theo’s second yellow card, the referee was harsh. For a dive in a game like this, at least give a verbal warning before picking up the card. The match changed.

“Now the important thing is to stay as a group and think about the league. We will suffer tonight, and from tomorrow we will prepare for the next objective”

What more could have been done in the 180 minutes?

“We could have done much more. After the games, you can say many things. Today with a bit of luck we could have made it 2-0 in the first and we started the second half well. Then the game changed.”

Theo always dives…

“When these situations happen, you can’t say if it’s right or wrong. I don’t think Theo is an actor, he plays his game and tries to do the best he can. These things happen on the pitch, he doesn’t look for it.”

Are you angry with the referee or Theo?

“We are angry with ourselves. We killed ourselves. We are not angry with the referee. It’s our fault, there are no excuses or complaints. We have to look in the mirror and see what we did wrong.”

So many red cards: how is it possible?

“These are situations that happen on the pitch. In Empoli, we had a red card against us that wasn’t fair, and there was also one for them… These situations happen, we can’t control them beforehand. We have to be calm, collected and focused on the pitch.”

You have missed many season targets. What can satisfy you and where could you have done better?

“Today is a disappointment, the Champions League was a goal. Before the start of the season, we wanted to win the league. We won the Supercoppa Italiana, the Coppa Italia is missing: the history of the club is to aim for these trophies. Then during the season, things don’t always go as you thought.

“We weren’t happy and in January we made these moves to improve: but there’s no guarantee. I want to see a dominant Milan, like Milan. When I arrived 4 or 5 years ago it wasn’t the Milan that everyone was used to and then we grew from there.”

Has the Scudetto team been too dismantled?

“I stopped, I’m 42 years old… I played in that team and I can say that this team today has more chances to win: it’s twice as strong. We won with that team but this one is better in terms of quality.”

As a result of the failure, Milan will miss out on a lot of revenue, not just in terms of prize money but also ticket sales. Inter or Arsenal would have been up in the round of 16, but now the Rossoneri will have to focus on getting UCL for next season instead.