Napoli drew only in the second leg with Milan (1-1) and was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. At the end of the game at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, coach Luciano Spalletti blamed the refereeing.

Luciano Spalletti (Napoli): “It was a clean penalty”

The Napoli coach congratulated his opponent, but believes that Szymon Marciniak should have given a penalty for Rafael Leao’s foul on Hirving Lozano (in the 36th minute with the score 0:0).

“First of all, we have to congratulate Milan for qualifying, it’s a sign of a mature team and players. We had a great game, we were naive at times and we are paying for our inexperience. Kremen didn’t train for 20 days, but I also made some serious mistakes.

The penalty and the first goal could have been avoided, we had complete possession of the ball. We were not as good as them in the penalty area.

The last international break affected us a bit, at first we were on top physically and mentally, and then when we came back we were weaker. The result in Turin made us think the title was a formality and we ended up 0-4 in Milan.

There was a clear penalty on Lozano tonight, Leao comes out clean on the ankle. It’s not contact, it’s a blow, otherwise he wouldn’t have turned his ankle like that” – Luciano Spalletti.

>> Napoli star and an emotional message after the exit from the Champions League

Stefano Pioli (Milan): “I train a group with a big heart”

“We weren’t considered favorites with Napoli, but I coach a group with a big heart. I gritted my teeth and suffered, but I deserved to qualify. Congratulations guys.

The fact that we were 1-0 in the tour match helped us on one hand but also slowed us down on the other. We gave them the ball too much. Many of our players have never played in a match like this before, so that’s normal. But everyone sacrificed, we were a team

In the semi-finals, there will be two beautiful, stimulating and difficult matches. We have done a lot and we definitely don’t want to stop” – Stefano Pioli.

Napoli – Milan 1-1 (in the round 0-1), quarter of the Champions League

The sole leader of Serie A “Napoli” failed to overturn the result of the match of the tour, which ended with a minimal advantage of “Milan”.

Stefano Pioli’s side could have opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, but Giroud missed an 11-yard shot awarded for a foul on Leao.

The Milan striker took revenge in the 43rd minute when he finished off a quick counter-attack that ended with Leao’s cross.

In favor of “Napoli” was also a penalty, which Kvaratzhelia did not realize in the 80th minute.

The equalizer did not come until extra time, after Victor Osimen’s header, too late to change the game’s fate.

Milan reached the semi-finals of the Champions League after 16 years and could face arch-rivals Inter, who won their first leg against Benfica Lisbon.