Clarence Seedorf questioned the mentality of his players following AC Milan’s 4-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid in its UEFA Champions League round of 16, second-leg at the VicenteCalderon stadium in Madrid on Tuesday. The Italian giant lost the series, 5-1, on aggregate after losing the first game 1-0 in Milan.
“You could see after the second goal that theteam struggled psychologically to react, as they often do,” the former Dutch international said. “The second goal turned off the light and sapped the energy from the team. We analyzed thesituation together. Obviously the Champions League was an important objective for us and economically for the club. We had played well in the first leg and showed in the first half tonight we couldplay on a par with Atletico, but couldn’t be consistent for the whole game.”
He went on to reflect on the Serie A giant’s remaining games in the Italian league.“We spoke clearly and set objectives in the League, which is our only remaining target,” he said. “There are 11 games to go and we have some very specific objectives, which are theones we believe we can get. It’s our only tournament, so the squad must feel a realistic sense of what we can achieve.”
Milan is currently 10th in the Serie A table, awhopping 20 points behind Napoli in third, which is the final Champions League qualification place in Italy.