When the loud music of the Champions League emerged last night, it was also when the raindrops began to fall at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. However, those poppy seeds did not signal a cold night for the visitors, but in the end, they were tears of mourning for the host.
On the night that Spurs’ success and failure became the focal point of the city, London went cold as the Roosters were almost certain to be empty-handed for the 15th year in a row.
In a warm little corner on that cold night, guests from Italy held a celebration party. The result of the second leg was only 0-0, just enough for them to continue with a total score of 1-0. In fact, even though there was no goal, this confrontation also made the Milanista nervous until the last minute.
It was a heart-stopping moment in the 90+3 minute, when the home side almost equalized and dragged the game into extra time. Son Heung-min hangs the ball very well and Harry Kane has turned up skillfully to hit his forte header. But on the other side of the line, Mike Maignan was too prestigious with an important saver phase.
Milan won close to Tottenham in the 1/8 Champions League round.
The return of an icon
More than a decade, 11 years have passed since AC Milan reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League. They went through a downturn, a dark night and a difficult rebuilding journey, leaving behind being considered one of the eight best clubs in Europe.
The last time Milan appeared in the quarter-finals was the Champions League season 2011/12. That was when they drew Barcelona 0-0 in the first leg and only lost in the second leg with a score of 1-3.
In the starting line-up of the Rossoneri that day, only 2 of the 11 players left were “the tree of life” Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kevin Prince-Boateng. The 1-1 equalizer for Milan at Camp Nou, Antonio Nocerino, retired 3 years ago and is working as a youth coach at MLS.
After the defeat in the quarter-finals that year, Milan had two consecutive seasons stopping in the 1/8 round before being unable to win tickets to the Champions League for 7 consecutive years.
Few expected this defeat to open more than a decade of failure to return to the Champions League quarter-finals of AC Milan.
They returned to this elite arena from last season and made an impressive debut with the chase for the score at Anfield. But when the group stage ended, Milan’s young players could still only finish at the bottom of Group B, behind Liverpool, Atletico and Porto.
But after a year, the “green grapes” are ripe. The Serie A championship after 11 years is a great springboard for them to show themselves in Europe. The Rossoneri finished second in Group E when this season’s group stage ended, but only three points behind leaders Chelsea.
Then, when facing another Premier League representative in the round of 16, in a fairly even match, Milan proved they were a better team to win the right to go on.
“In this arena, teams like Milan are always capable of making the difference. Milan won the Serie A last season, they are a big club and rich in tradition,” coach Antonio Conte admitted after the defeat. In both legs, the gap is only one goal. But that small difference is what teams like Tottenham need more time and experience to overcome.
Highlights
The entire Milan team held hands to create a happy day after 11 years, but in that overall picture, there were also important touches from individuals.
Mike Maignan’s late-game save was just one of his big contributions. Many people celebrate the return of Ibrahimovic, but it is Mignan’s return that is the important detail. He is the number one candidate for the French wooden frame after the time of Hugo Lloris.
The Milanistas missed Maignan when this excellent goalkeeper had to miss many months with a calf injury in October 2022. The 27-year-old player just returned at the end of February, caught 3 matches since then and with Milan won 1, lost 1, drew 1.
But the special thing is that in the 2 matches that Maignan kept clean sheets, the Rossoneri won an important victory against Atalanta and drew Tottenham.
Saying “draw” is also not quite right, because Milan almost won on away land: Divock Origi hit the Tottenham post just seconds after Maignan’s save.
Pioli beat Conte in a mind game between two Italian coaches.
The Belgian striker was brought on by coach Stefano Pioli in the 81st minute (replacing the old general Olivier Giroud). He is one of four substitutions of the 57-year-old strategist in this match and all belong to the attack.
Alexis Saelemaekers, Ismael Bennacer, Origi and Ante Rebic were introduced in the second half of the second half, respectively. In the context that Milan only needed a draw to continue, Pioli’s seemingly risky decision was actually necessary and reasonable, helping the Rossoneri maintain the game and avoid the risk of being cornered.
Most of Milan’s squad played well with 6/11 names scored by SofaScore on 7 points in this match. In particular, the captain Theo Hernandez (7.5 points) continued to prove his maturity at the age of 25 when he went on to defend effectively, a few days after finishing the net at Fiorentina.
And on a day when Brahim Diaz (6.4 points), the only goalscorer in the first leg, was too well looked after and did not perform much, Rafael Leao (7.3 points) was ready to replace to become a permanent danger to the opponent.
Happy rain
Before this match, Milan was under great pressure after the shock of losing to Fiorentina with a poor performance (Théo Hernandez’s goal was the honorable equalizer). How they will bounce back after the first loss, which broke off 4 all-win matches, is also something that the country of pasta keeps an eye on.
Fortunately they did well enough in England. The feat of returning to the quarter-finals of the Champions League becomes the motivation for Milan to continue to improve in the coming time.
Leao and his teammates bring great joy to Milanista.
In a season where Napoli have almost firmly held the Scudetto in hand with 15 points above the second-place team, there will be at least one other Serie A giant falling out of the Top 4 at the end of the season. Currently, Milan are ranked 5th with 47 points, equal to the fourth-place Roma team and 1 point behind the third-place Lazio team.
At the same time, the unpredictable and exciting journey in the Champions League is still worth looking forward to. At dawn this morning, the confrontation in London was postponed for 10 minutes because the two teams’ buses were late. In it, Milan’s car was 5 minutes late after struggling through traffic-congested streets.
London’s traffic jams have long been notorious, but in that chaotic crowd, many Milanistas were seen scurrying through the snow with flags, banners and flares.
Their drumbeats and songs must have resonated even more than the quarterfinals, after a decade-long wait.
Zing.vn | 20:32 09/03/2023
