AC Milan manager Masimiliano Allegri admitted his side were a little short on confidence after crashing to a 1-0 defeat at Malaga.
The Spanish side earned their third-straight win in the Champions League thanks to a solitary goal from Joaquin just past the hour mark. Malaga are comfortable leaders in the group with a maximum nine points from three games, with Milan second on four points.
Zenit St Petersburg brought themselves back in contention with a 1-0 victory over Anderlecht, and the Russian side now lie a point behind Milan in third with the Belgians bottom on one point.
Allegri felt his side lacked quality in the final third, which eventually cost them dear. "Malaga were pressing us but without creating serious chances when they scored," he said. "We missed too many final passes in attack as we had space to be dangerous but didn't use it.
"At the moment we have to keep it as simple as possible and just try to pick up some good results in order to earn some confidence.
"We managed to limit Malaga to shots from long distance in the first half, while we had some good chances ourselves. Unfortunately we missed shots or final passes when we could have scored. In the second half we gave possession away too easily when they pressed us.
"I still think we did some good things tonight but we obviously have to improve. For the first time we played with a three-man defence, but I think we did quite well and we will use this system again in the future.
"I feel the trust of my players and in the league we will certainly improve our situation. In the UEFA Champions League we are still in a good position to qualify. Certainly we can say we have not been lucky in this recent period as we have missed good chances and we are punished for every mistake we make."
Malaga manager Manuel Pellegrini admitted he saw some similarities in this Malaga side to the one with Villarreal, who reached the 2005-06 semi-final. "Tonight's game was very important for us, against a team like Milan," he said. "I thought my team did well, we were always looking to get into our opponents' area.
"At the other end our defending was also good. The scoreline doesn't really reflect the game. I have full faith and confidence in all of my players. We will be looking to secure qualification next but for now we must focus on the Liga again.
"There was an additional weight attached to the game because of everything Milan represent. The fact that we have yet to concede means we are defending well. We are always looking forward, always looking to attack, which is the most important thing.
"There are characteristics in this Malaga side that are similar to Villarreal. We have to now forget the UEFA Champions League, with our nine points in the bag, and start to focus on our match against Espanyol in the Liga.
