Kjaer: ‘When you’re 3-0 up, situations like this can happen’

Milan defender Simon Kjaer dismissed concerns over Milan’s performance in their 3-2 loss to Rennes in the Europa League on Thursday evening, insisting that ‘when you’re 3-0 up, situations like this can happen.’

Milan qualified for the Europa League with a 5-3 aggregate score despite Thursday’s loss, as they had risen to a 3-0 victory on home soil last week.

Kjaer, who returned to the Milan side having been rested during the 4-2 defeat by Monza over the weekend, thought that the loss to Rennes was still an entertaining game on the whole.

“It was a difficult match and we knew that they would start strong with the whole stadium behind them. (It was) a beautiful game in a brilliant atmosphere,” Kjaer told MilanTV, reported via TMW.

As Milan held a significant advantage heading into the away leg in France, the 34-year-old centre-back claims he always knew the game could be an eventful one.

“When you’re 3-0 up, situations like this can happen. They risked everything and we needed to be more effective up front if we wanted to take the lead at the beginning of the first half.

“These are the details in football. They put everything in and we suffered because of it. But the important thing is that we got through to the next round.

“You always have to understand where it is they’re going to put the cross in from, which side to cover, but also be aware of where players are going to run, because they always popped up with numbers in the area.”

Milan will discover their Europa League Round of 16 opponents on Friday, when UEFA hold the draw for the next round from their headquarters in Switzerland.

The Rossoneri will be back in Serie A action on Sunday with an important visit from Champions League-chasing Atalanta, who currently occupy fourth spot in the table. La Dea are seven points off Milan, but do have a game in hand.