"I'm thrilled to be in the semis," said Pellegrini. "Our goal was to go as far as possible. Despite the early criticism, we took it step by step and now we're here. It's a first for the club and we're all very happy."

"Now it's time to battle it out with Fiorentina and try to reach the final. We were a mature team, but in the first half, we might have been playing with the 2-0 lead in our heads. In the second half, we took control and they didn't get close to our goal until that mistake we made. I'm happy for the team and the fans."

"I don't dwell on praise or criticism," said Pellegrini. "We're in a Europa League position and in the semis. We want to reach a new level and win this tournament. The team is getting stronger. We want to win this and reach Europe for the league."

"We're all excited to achieve something that hasn't been done before," he added. "We want to reach the top of the table. We have a tough opponent in the semis, and we can't be satisfied with what we did. Despite the early criticism, we handled it the right way."