Franck Kessie claims AC Milan have proved to be at the same level with Manchester United despite their exit from the Uefa Europa League.
Paul Pogba’s second-half strike condemned the hosts to a 1-0 defeat as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men cruised into the quarter-final stage with a 2-1 aggregate win.
Kessie who played from start to finish in the encounter, rued the defensive error which cost Milan a place in the last-eight of the competition.
“We are very disappointed because we knew that we could’ve done it. We didn’t make the most of the advantage from the first leg, because we should at least have drawn 0-0 here and reached the quarter-finals,” Kessie told Sky Sport Italia via Football Italia.
“At this level, you pay for mistakes. We should’ve cleared the ball earlier and they made us pay straight away.”
Following their disappointing exit, Kessie urged his teammates to shift their attention to the Serie A as they continue their fight for the Scudetto with city rivals Inter Milan.
Stefano Pioli’s men are second in the league table with 56 points from 27 matches and they trail leaders Inter by nine points.
“We fought to the end, we proved that we were at their level, but now we have to focus on Serie A,” the Ivory Coast international added.
“The top four position was our objective at the start of the season and it remains our main target. We can do it.”
After conceding back-to-back defeats against Napoli and Manchester United, Kessie and Algeria's Ismael Bennacer will be hoping to help AC Milan return ways when they travel to Fiorentina for Sunday's league outing.
The Ivorian midfielder has been ever-present in almost every of AC Milan's games this season while his Algerian teammate just recovered from an injury which he suffered against Red Star Belgrade on February 18.