"Unfortunately football is like that" - Diego Milito claims Inter Milan were unlucky to lose UCL final against Manchester City
Diego Milito said that his former club, Inter Milan, were unlucky to lose the UEFA Champions League final against Manchester City.
The Cityzens emerged victorious when the two sides collided at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul on June 10. Rodri scored the winner for Pep Guardiola's team.
Reflecting on the game, Milito said (via GOAL):
“I think it was very close. Inter have made a great journey in the Champions League, they deserved the final and in my opinion they deserved even more in the final."
He added:
"Inter had a great game, unfortunately football is like that, they weren't able to unlock it and then the day was unlucky. Manchester City scored and unfortunately Inter were unable to bring the cup home, but I think the journey has been extraordinary.”
Milito scored twice in the final when Inter Milan won the UEFA Champions League in the 2009-10 season by defeating Bayern Munich at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The clash at Ataturk Stadium was their first final appearance since 2010. The Nerazzuri, though, ended up on the losing side.
Here's how Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacted after defeating Inter Milan in the final
While Manchester City managed to defeat Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League final, it wasn't an easy task by any means. Inter showed defensive resilience, and Pep Guardiola's team had to work for their win.
Speaking to the media after the game, Guardiola lauded Inter's effort. He further added that he expects Inter to be back at the summit sooner rather than later.
The Spaniard said (via Sempre Inter):
“There are no words that can describe the pain that Inter are feeling. But they’re the second best team in Europe. I’m delighted with how things went, but they had some big chances at the end."
He added:
“And if we’d conceded we could have lost in extra time. We had to win in Europe, we did so against a great Inter team. We had to suffer, they have physicality, but sometimes we also need a bit of luck that we didn’t have in the past.”
Inter missed a few gilt-edged chances, especially Romelu Lukaku on one occasion, to bring proceedings to level terms in the final. However, the Nerazzuri put up a valiant effort, to say the least.