AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli admitted relief after winning a marathon penalty shootout against Europa League opponents Rio Ave.

Hakan Calhanoglu sent the game into penalties with a spotkick of his own in extra-time. And it took 24 efforts from the two teams for Milan to emerge as winners.

"It's difficult to control your emotions in a situation like that, because we went from possibly winning to possibly losing in the blink of an eye," said Pioli.

“This is also why they say a penalty shoot-out is a lottery. We did mentally to hold out, as we are a young side and it was by no means easy to maintain that grit and prove we could suffer for the result.

“I'd never seen anything like it, but that's football. I think we did fairly well in the game and just allowed ourselves to be taken by surprise on the goal."