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Pre-season Friendlies

Jul 31, 2013 at 5.15pm UK

AC Milan
3-5
Man City Manchester City

El Shaarawy (39', 42'), Petagna (44')

FT(HT: 3-5)

Silva (4'), Richards (21'), Kolarov (25'), Dzeko (34', 37')

Massimiliano Allegri downplays Manchester City drubbing

By Mark Langshaw, Reporter | 01 August 2013

AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri attributes his side's defeat to Manchester City to the inexperience of the youngsters he selected.

AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri has put his side's 5-3 defeat to Manchester City down to inexperience.

The Italian was quick to point out that more than half of the players he fielded for the pre-season friendly were under 20 years of age.

"Many of the players had never been in an atmosphere like this. At this moment, with the recent internationals and many out of action with injuries, we knew that we were going to run into some difficulties," he told Sportmediaset.

"We should've done better in terms of character, but then we got the game back on track and in the second half went close to making it 5-4. There are players who had a decent game today.

"We are a team with seven or eight players under 20, so we must not be affected by paranoia after such defeats. It was impossible in the circumstances to think of coming here and dominating Manchester City."

An Edin Dzeko brace after early strikes from David Silva, Micah Richards and Aleksandar Kolarov put City 5-0 up with just 36 minutes on the clock.

A Stephan El Shaarawy double and an Andrea Petagna strike reduced the deficit before half time, but Milan were unable to claw their way back into the game.