“We let ourselves down” – Modric unhappy after ‘deserved’ Bologna defeat

Luka Modric has insisted that AC Milan cannot make excuses for themselves after they fell to a disappointing defeat to Bologna.

Milan suffered their first league defeat of the season despite coming from behind in the first half to lead, thanks to an Alphadjo Cisse brace. Bologna struck three times in a second-half collapse to earn the three points, with Samuel Mbangula netting a hat-trick.

It is not an ideal result for the Rossoneri given how big a few days this is, with the Derby della Madonnina coming up on Saturday, then Ferencváros arriving at San Siro in the Europa League. The injury crisis seemed to worsen too, with Fikayo Tomori forced off at the break.

Modric spoke to Sky to give his take on the night’s action, having come on at half-time in place of the injured Tomori. His words were transcribed by MilanNews.

A tough defeat. What happened today?

“It was a tough defeat, we weren’t expecting it, especially after the first half. Up until now, I think we’d done well in the league, but tonight we lost our first game.

“In the second half, we lost a lot of duels. That goal we conceded from a set-piece was unfortunate, and from then on, we let ourselves down. A deserved defeat.”

Injuries aren’t an excuse, but can they be a motivation?

“We can’t have excuses. There are so many injuries, but it’s positive that the next match will come right away. We’ve done very well so far this evening, so we need to stay optimistic and hope we can stay united and respond on Saturday.”

How are you feeling?

“I feel good.”

How is this Milan team developing? There seems to be a climate of distrust…

“I think we’re growing well, in a good direction. The coach arrived with new ideas, a new style of play, and little by little we’re trying to understand his vision and what he requires of us.

“And as I said before, we’ve done well so far. We can always do better, but we still need to improve, and we hope to do so throughout the season.”