Conceicao insists result was ‘most important thing’ for Milan amid ‘period of evolution’

AC Milan head coach Sergio Conceicao has believes that the result was ‘the most important thing’ as his side took another step forward in the Champions League.

Coming into the game Milan knew that a win would likely be enough to send them into the top eight places. While it was far from a brilliant performance, the 1-0 victory against Girona resulted in a surged into sixth spot.

Rafael Leao got the only goal of the game for the Rossoneri with numerous other chances spurned, but the opponents from Catalonia had their moments too, including a Bryan Gil equaliser ruled out for a very marginal offside.

Nonetheless, the result means that Milan now likely have to just avoid defeat in Zagreb next week to obtain direct qualification for the last 16, which would in turn free them of a two-legged play-off in February.

Conceicao spoke to Prime Video after the full-time whistle to share his thoughts on the contest, with his comments relayed by MilanNews.

Are you proud of the position in the table?

“Not at all, I’m looking at the standings and I have to say that the boys have done a good job but it’s not over yet, there’s one game left. We are in a period of evolution and we have to continue working. There are some things that are going well and many other things that are not going so well.

“But the most important thing is the result: we created especially in the first half to score more goals and they had them too. In the second half the fear of conceding a goal came out rather than the desire to score the second, but that’s normal at this moment.”

Is this the Milan you want to see?

“The boys have given a lot in terms of spirit. Rafael scored the goal, I’m asking him for other things not only with the ball. He accepts it, he’s working and he’s setting an example. A team must think in the same way in different moments of the game.”

Kyle Walker is arriving, wouldn’t you like a big striker?

“If you went back fifteen years (to Luca Toni, while laughing).”