Delight for reaching a second successive Coppa Italia final, tinged with the frustration of watching his side pegged back on aggregate, the Bianconeri’s dramatic penalty shootout victory over Inter was one that provoked mixed emotions in the mind of Massimiliano Allegri on Wednesday evening.
Speaking to the media after over 120 minutes of action at the San Siro, the Tuscan Tactician began: “I’m clearly very happy about us booking our place in the final after defeating tricky opponents along the way in Torino, Lazio and the Nerazzurri.
“Inter really went for it tonight and we didn’t deal well with the pressure they put us under. For 70 minutes we didn’t look like scoring, then we began to pose a greater forward threat and, in stark contrast to the start of the match, we ended up having numerous chances to net the winner.”
Shifting his analysis of a challenging contest to the future, Allegri stressed that there were plenty of lessons to be learnt in seeing their 3-0 first-leg lead clawed back over 90 minutes in Milan, not least that cup football can often spark surprises for which you need to be fully prepared.
“Matches such as tonight’s ought to teach us that you can build a healthy advantage, but that does not mean the tie is over. We needed to cope better with this situation and recognise that, in football, you need to dig deep right up until the referee blows the final whistle in order to gain results.”