Taarabt: We should’ve won 3-0 in the first leg, but Courtois was a beast

AC Milan midfielder, Adel Taarabt is eager to face Atletico Madrid in their second leg Champions League match against Atletico Madrid and feels that if they played like they did in the first leg, they will win.

In a pre-match interview, Taarabt spoke about his new club and his desire to remain and give his all to a club with a rich history like AC Milan.

“We have many great players and we are adapting to the work of Seedorf.  But yes, you could say that we’re rebuilding.

“Clearly Milan is one of the biggest clubs in the world.  You just have to see how it’s organized, Milanello, San Siro…Everything is exceptional.  This makes you want to stay and build your career.  Just look at the great players who have been here; Van Basten, Guilt, Maldini, Inzaghi, Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva…I’m going to try and make the most of this opportunity.

“Milan has given me the opportunity to expose myself to the world and I mean no disrespect to my former clubs; QPR, Fulham and Tottenham.  It’s what I needed and Milan has given that to me.

“The Serie A is different than anything else.  It’s a dream to play here and, consequentially, I would love to stay here.”

Taarabt then spoke about 2011, when he almost joined Atletico Madrid and while he’s disappointed they didn’t win the first leg, is eager to triumph on Tuesday.

“The most followed league in Morocco is La Liga.  The teams play good football and it’s less physical than in England.  There was a possibility for me to join, but they didn’t take it.  I have nothing to prove to Atletico and I don’t have a grudge.  Now I’m at Milan and I want to play an exceptional match.

“It’s going to be difficult because we’re facing a good team, but in San Siro, we deserved the victory.  In fact, it should’ve been 3-0, but we happened to run into a beast of a goalkeeper in Courtois…If we play with the same intensity as we did in Italy, we’ll win.

“Seedorf has told us that Atleti wasn’t better than us in the first leg and we have to believe we can come back.  If we play as we did in the San Siro, we will win.  Milan is a great club and in the Champions they have infinitely more experience than Atleti.”