FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Serie A - AC Milan v Napoli - San Siro, Milan, Italy - October 29, 2024 AC Milan coach Paulo Fonseca reacts REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo/File Photo
MADRID (Reuters) - AC Milan manager Paulo Fonseca said he was proud of his players effort after they earned a surprise 3-1 win at holders Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday.
It was Milan's first win against Real in 15 years as the continental heavyweights clashed at the Santiago Bernabeu, handing last-year's champions back-to-back defeats for the first time since October 2021.
"We won because the players had the courage to come here and not be afraid of anything, playing the game we wanted," Fonseca told a press conference on Tuesday.
"We prepared for a match in which we wanted to keep the ball, in the first half we did important things and in the second half we suffered more, but we deserved to win, no doubt about it."
Fonseca said that he was delighted with what he considered a statement victory and said that he was able to deploy a more aggressive gameplan than he would have in Italy, where he said teams play with a more defensive approach.
"Today we showed that an Italian team came to the Bernabéu to play and not to defend alone. And we can still grow a lot," Fonseca said.
"I have to be honest. This type of game is totally different to what we have in Serie A. I don't think it's possible to do what we did today there because here there are no teams that press man-to-man all over the pitch."
"You have to be careful with comparisons. In Italy, perhaps, we don't have the chance to play with this aggressiveness. We're going to try, but it's not the same as playing against Monza or Cagliari, who are locked down and always put you under pressure man-to-man."
Milan are in 17th place in the 36-team Champions League table with six points, one spot behind of Real Madrid on goal difference after four games.
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
