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when they focus on maintaining a five-point lead atop Italy’s Serie A soccer league against lowly Bari at the San Siro.
Milan gave a much improved performance from their first leg efforts as they dominated possession, albeit far from Tottenham’s goal, at White Hart Lane on Wednesday.
Even so, they failed to breach Spurs’ stubborn rearguard as they paid for their 1-0 first leg defeat three weeks earlier.
It means Milan have only the league and Cup to concentrate on now as they have failed to reach the Champions League last eight for the fourth year in a row since triumphing in 2007 – in 2009 they did not even qualify for the competition.
Milan will be expecting to see their five-point lead shaved as Inter are due to travel to second-from-bottom Brescia on Friday night.
And the players recognise they must quickly overcome their European disappointment.
“We went there (to Spurs) to qualify but it didn’t happen. We’re all a bit sad, we gave a lot but we couldn’t find a goal,” said French midfielder Mathieu Flamini.
“Now we have to look forward and go and win the title. The Champions League was one of our objectives but it went badly.
“We have another big aim and that’s to win the title, our number one priority.”
Milan are in great shape in that respect having beaten rivals Napoli two weeks ago, all but knocking them out of contention for the league title before earning a hard-fought 1-0 success at fellow giants Juventus last week.
That loss hit Juve’s Champions League hopes hard, leaving them in seventh but 10 points off fourth-placed Lazio with just 10 games to play.
Juve have lost their last three games and seven of the last 11, virtually ruling them out of contention for Champions League football next season.
They face a trip to Cesena tonight with their hosts looking to keep their heads above water as they sit only goal difference above the drop zone.
In Juve’s absence, the fight for a top four spot will be played out at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico as Roma host Lazio in the capital derby.
Having recovered a little of late, in the league at least, following four straight defeats Roma managed three games on the trot without loss before their Champions League capitulation at Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday.
Fixtures (4pm unless stated)
Today: Cesena v Juventus (9:45pm).
Tomorrow: AC Milan v Bari (1:30pm), Cagliari v Udinese, Catania v Sampdoria, Chievo v Fiorentina, Genoa v Palermo, Lecce v Bologna, Roma v Lazio, Parma v Napoli (9:45pm).
Italian Serie A table
P W D L F A Pts
AC Milan 28 18 7 3 50 20 61
Inter Milan 28 17 5 6 54 31 56
Napoli 28 16 5 7 41 25 53
Lazio 28 15 6 7 35 23 51
Udinese 28 15 5 8 50 30 50
Roma 28 13 7 8 43 39 46
Juventus 28 11 8 9 41 35 41
Palermo 28 12 4 12 44 45 40
Cagliari 28 11 6 11 35 30 39
Fiorentina 28 9 10 9 32 29 37
Bologna 28 10 9 9 31 36 36
Genoa 28 9 8 11 27 32 35
Chievo 28 7 11 10 28 30 32
Sampdoria 28 7 10 11 25 32 31
Parma 28 6 11 11 27 38 29
Catania 28 7 8 13 24 38 29
Cesena 28 7 7 14 23 38 28
Lecce 28 7 7 14 31 50 28
Brescia 28 6 7 15 22 35 25
Bari 28 3 7 18 15 42 16. – AFP.