13 April 2018
The sting of Wednesday's hard luck Champions League exit still hurts for the Bianconeri, but it's time to turn the page and look back to Serie A where just a few more wins will achieve a seventh consecutive Scudetto.
German midfielder Sami Khedira has certainly seen it all in his storied career and today he talked to the Sky Sport and Mediaset microphones:
"It was almost the perfect game because after a 0-3 defeat against Madrid to play in Bernabeu it's almost impossible to comeback and we did it for 90 minutes but sometimes the game is more than 90 minutes," said Khedira. "We did something that no one expected and we can be proud of this but at the end we come away with nothing. The feeling is good that we know we can be at their same level."
THE PENALTY
Khedira's thoughts on the last-minute penalty that decided Wednesday night's match at the Bernabeu:
"I think it's a situation where you can give the penalty, but you do not have to do it. In my opinion, at the last minute, you must be 100% sure that there is a foul," said Khedira. "I have seen the play 20 times and looking at the referee, he was not sure. He waited two or three seconds and then decided for the penalty.
"To give one at the last minute of such an important game, you must not have doubts. It was not such a clear penalty and that was why at the end of the game we were all angry, but it is normal and if we had not been, we should stop playing football. VAR? If I have to be honest at the start of the season, I was not enthusiastic about it, because it was new and interrupted the game for too long. Now it is improving, and it can help football be more fair."
FOCUSING ON SAMP
"In the first two days after a match like that, you can suffer, but by the third day we have to look ahead and regain our concentration because the season is not over. We can do something special because nobody has won seven league titles and four Coppa Italias in a row.
"Now, we have Sampdoria who was the last team we lost to and we hope it's our last loss of the season! It won't be easy because we're coming off the quarter-final which was very difficult against a great team. Then we will face Crotone and as we have seen against Benevento, it can be very difficult to play teams fighting for survival. Right now, these two games are the focus and more important than Napoli.
"After that of course, we will play which will be a great match for all football lovers. We're excited to play in our stadium with our fans who will give us great support."
