Milan opener was partly my fault - Carra

May 24 2007 by David Prentice, Liverpool Echo

JAMIE CARRAGHER gave a brutally honest assessment of the moment Milan opened the scoring in last night’s Champions League final.

And the Reds defender now wishes he had taken a different course of action.

The ball broke off Carragher towards Milan dangerman Kaka, and a foul by Xabi Alonso on the Brazilian gave Milan the opportunity from which they took a decisive lead from a deflected free-kick.

“I think I should have controlled the ball and cleared it upfield really, rather than trying to hit it first time,” he declared.

“But they’re the small details which matter.

“I don’t know whether it should have been a free-kick or not, but in Europe you’re going to get that. In the Premiership you get away with them but we’re experienced enough to know things like that happen.

“I’m devastated right now. But we were in the opposite situation two years ago so we don’t want to moan and cry about it.

“Credit to AC Milan who are a great side and probably deserved it on the night.

“I don’t think there was much in it to be honest. In the first half they just shaded it and everyone knows in football how important it is to get a goal just before half-time.”

Carragher added: “I think we probably played as well, if not better than we did in Istanbul. We probably didn’t create as many chances, but we limited Milan to probably one chance – which was their second goal – I can’t really think of any more, and the way we performed in the second half we really went for it without being able to take it as much as we would have liked.

“It’s gone now. But we’ve got the hunger to come back and we want to get closer to Chelsea and Manchester United next season.

“We’ve proved we’re a very good side in the Champions League. That doesn’t mean that we think we’re going to win it every year, but we want to be in the running again and hopefully we can do the same next year.

“I have great respect for Milan. They are a top side with top players. They feel how we felt two years ago now.

“They just got the goals at the right time.”