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Adriano Galliani hailed Manuel Rui Costa on his emotional return to San Siro. “The Champions League is Milan’s natural habitat.”

The Rossoneri have stuttered in Serie A with two consecutive draws, but impressed in the 2-1 victory over Benfica.

“The Champions League is our natural habitat. This is something we try to explain to every Coach and player who comes here,” said the Vice-President.

“In 14 tournaments we have reached eight Finals, so there is a different atmosphere in the air the day before a European game.

“We played wonderful football tonight and the scoreline was extremely tight, as we could easily have won by five or six goals.”

There was an emotional moment when Rui Costa – who joined the side in 2001 before returning home to Portugal – was given a standing ovation by the entire Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, including the Milan players on the bench.

“I hugged Rui before and after the game. He had five great years here winning so much together, so it was right for San Siro to give him that standing ovation.

“He is a lovely guy and we met with him before and after the Champions League Final, so our rapport remains excellent.”

Alberto Gilardino is still looking for his first goal of the campaign and replaced Inzaghi for the final seven minutes, but Galliani calmed the newspaper questions.

“The last match we played at San Siro in Europe Gilardino scored a great goal against Manchester United.

“He is very unlucky at the moment, especially at Siena on Saturday, but he has traditionally started really scoring goals in November. His time will come and there is no Gilardino Problem.”