Filippo Inzaghi said Milan s 4-2 friendly win over Real Madrid in Dubai on Tuesday proved they can match it with the world s best.
Inzaghi s men sauntered to the victory courtesy of a Stephan El Shaarawy brace.
Milan are seventh in Serie A, trying to improve on their eighth-place finish in 2013-14 their worst standing since 1998.
And Inzaghi said their recent results, which included a win over Napoli, a draw at Roma and their victory over European champions Real, held them in good stead to climb the Serie A table.
We knew that if we didn t have the right attitude in this game we could have conceded up to five goals and that would have been a shame considering how far we have come after the games against Napoli and Roma, Inzaghi said post-match.
We played three games against Napoli, Roma and Real Madrid and we come out with two wins and a draw this means that we can play on a par with everybody.
Although, yes, Real Madrid are in a league of their own but the spirit and the effort we showed was great.
These guys had trained for only three days after a week break and it didn t look like that.
Inzaghi was quick to redirect his side s focus back to their return to domestic duties, when they host Sassuolo on January 6.
If we lose against Sassuolo we are going to forget about this game very soon, I can tell you, the former Juve and Milan striker said.
In fact, we have to forget about this game tomorrow straight away.
Yes, we must remember this as a nice evening and we must carry with us the fact that it was good to face players who can win the Ballon d Or every year.
So winning this game means that we get a big boost of confidence it s a sign that we are growing and that s the best thing of tonight.
El Shaarawy declared his performance a good achievement , but was also eyeing off continuing Milan s good form on their return to Italy.
The Italy international also dismissed speculation he was keen to depart San Siro.
As I said before, I want to stay here at Milan, the 22-year-old said.
I want to try and do well starting from next game onwards.
And then I want to achieve a third place finish with this team.
