Julien Stéphan: "Pride wins out"

"Disappointment or satisfaction? Pride wins out. The players played a great game, taking risks and going forward. We had set up a different formation with three strikers and full-backs to get forward down the flanks. We scored goals against a talented team. Congratulations to them, they deserved to qualify for both games. Well done to our players too.

It's a great source of pride to have won against Milan. Even if it's difficult to compare eras, it's probably the most prestigious victory in the European history of Stade Rennais, so we have to appreciate that. We're in this business to share emotions, and we've experienced some very powerful ones. What we saw on the lap of honour, the faces, the smiles, the joy, these are important markers. All the credit goes to this group of players who took risks and kept up their efforts despite the equalisers. The lads kept going and were justly rewarded.

Benjamin scored a hat-trick, he was enormous throughout the match, technically, in his generosity, in his volume, in every area. His three goals are the symbol of the match. It's also so difficult to take a player off the pitch, but with that hat-trick against Milan, he deserves it. As a coach, I also want to give credit to the whole squad for this match.

Any regrets about the first leg? No. We didn't take a defensive approach there. The round robin match