Milan coach Stefano Pioli believes Tuesday's Champions League meeting with Tottenham arrives at the ideal time for his team, saying Friday's win over Torino helped to "cleanse our spirit".
Scudetto holders Milan halted a five-game winless run in Serie A with the 1-0 victory, as Olivier Giroud scored the only goal of a tight contest at San Siro.
The result lifted the Rossoneri from sixth to third in the Italian top flight ahead of Saturday's fixtures, but they must swiftly turn their attention to Europe in the coming days.
Milan will play their first match in the Champions League knockout stages since 2014 when they welcome Antonio Conte's Spurs to Italy for the first leg of their last-16 tussle.
Asked whether that game comes at a good time for Milan after their confidence-boosting victory, Pioli said: "Yes. The Champions League is what we wanted and deserved.
"From the round of 16 onwards, anyone would have been a very difficult and competitive opponent, especially the English teams.
"We'll be there, it will be a difficult match. I know Tottenham well because I know Conte and they deservedly won against [Manchester] City [last week].
"It comes at the right time, this victory will cleanse our heads and our spirit a little. We will be ready to play a match to the best of our ability.
"I can only congratulate our fans, it was a difficult period for them. The fact that they continue to support us can only help us.
"On Tuesday there will be an audience with great opportunities, and we want to live up to the fans and the Champions League."
The last meeting between Milan and Spurs came at the same stage of the competition in the 2010-11 campaign, when the London club triumphed 1-0 on aggregate via a Peter Crouch goal.
Meanwhile, Tottenham's former Juventus and Inter boss Conte has won eight of his last nine games against Milan (L1), and Pioli knows the Rossoneri will have to step things up.
"We have to do much better, raise the level of the game," he said. "Tottenham are a very strong team, but there is satisfaction. The team worked a lot during the match and that's the most important thing."
Inter 2-0 Torino: Nerazzurri ease to win in party atmosphere
Hakan Calhanoglu scored twice to give newly-crowned Serie A champions Inter a comfortable 2-0 win over 10-man Torino on Sunday, extending their unbeaten league run to 28 games.
It was a party atmosphere at the San Siro with confetti and fireworks before kick-off as the Inter fans continued to celebrate the Scudetto title they secured on Monday with a 2-1 derby win over Milan.
Inter's win over Torino moves them onto 89 points, 19 clear of Milan with four games remaining.
The Torino players gave Inter a guard of honour as they entered the pitch and Inter coach Simone Inzaghi answered the crowd's call for him to celebrate with them.
In the first Serie A game to be officiated by an all-female refereeing team, four minutes after half-time Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi sent off Torino's Adrien Tameze for a foul on Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Inter made the breakthrough seven minutes later when Mkhitaryan passed to Calhanoglu in the area who drove a shot into the bottom corner.
Calhanoglu converted a penalty four minutes later after a foul on Marcus Thuram and the party will continue into the evening as the Inter players parade through the streets of Milan on open-top buses.
Torino remain 10th in the standings on 46 points.
St. Mirren 1-2 Rangers: Dessers nets winner as Gers keep touch on Celtic
Rangers boosted their Scottish Premiership title hopes as Cyriel Dessers' strike earned a narrow 2-1 win over St. Mirren at the SMISA Stadium on Sunday.
Rangers were ahead with 32 minutes played as Zach Hemming failed to deal with a cross before James Bolton inadvertently put through his own net under pressure from Dessers.
But St. Mirren hit back just five minutes later as Mikael Mandron nodded goalwards, with the ball flying just past the fingertips of Jack Butland before going in off the post to send the teams into the break level.
Rangers needed a response in the second half, and they got exactly that with 18 minutes left to play as Dessers was left with far too much space in the middle to head James Tavernier's cross into the back of the net.
The hosts huffed and puffed for another equaliser but ultimately could not find one as Rangers held on for three much-needed points that move them level with leaders Celtic but with an inferior goal difference, leaving them second ahead of Celtic's visit to Dundee later on Sunday.
St. Mirren, meanwhile, remain fifth in the Scottish Premiership table.
Al-Khaleej 0-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo misfires on return as Laporte nets winner
Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension but failed to find the net as Al-Nassr secured a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej on Saturday, with Aymeric Laporte coming up with the decisive goal.
Ronaldo was in action for the first time since being sent off for an elbow in a 2-1 Saudi Super Cup loss to Al-Hilal earlier this month, with his initial two-match ban being reduced to one on appeal.
He missed three good chances as Al-Nassr threatened to fall further behind runaway Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, but former Manchester City defender Laporte spared his blushes by nodding Marcelo Brozovic's deep free-kick into the bottom-left corner with 68 minutes gone.
Al-Nassr remain nine points adrift of Al-Hilal at the summit in spite of their win, with Jorge Jesus' team unbeaten through 28 games this season as they close in on a record-extending 18th title.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo misfires on return
Ronaldo was presented with the Saudi Pro League's Player of the Month award for March ahead of kick-off, having scored four goals in three league appearances last month.
However, his sights were off on Saturday as he failed to net despite three of the visitors' four big chances, as defined by Opta, falling his way. He led all players on the pitch for expected goals (1.27 xG), shots (five), shots on target (three) and touches in the area (nine) without reward.
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