For the Belgians, the Milan derby in the Champions League on Tuesday evening was an evening to quickly forget. Romelu Lukaku again had to settle for a substitute at Inter, while AC Milan’s Red Devils could not prevent a 0-2 defeat. Alexis Saelemaekers was replaced after less than an hour by Divock Origi, while Charles De Ketelaere didn’t even get off the bench.
That must have been a mental blow for the 22-year-old Red Devils, especially given the course of the match. The 0-2 was already on the board after eleven minutes and so Milan had to score, but nevertheless Pioli did not appeal to him. However, very early in the race Bennacer, who had started as number ten, was injured. Pioli chose Junior Messiah as a replacement. The Brazilian came in dramatically, but was nevertheless allowed to stand for 70 minutes.
In the final phase, the Milan coach also preferred Pobega, rather a defensive midfielder, to replace Brahim Diaz. Those substitutions raise questions from many supporters on Twitter. Many wonder what De Ketelaere did wrong to not even get a job in these circumstances. He may not have made his mark this season, but the other options didn’t exactly look better…
I wonder why Charles De Ketelaere was not substituted in . pic.twitter.com/XkK4VaPQCX
— ANISH (@Anishraj60721) May 10, 2023
De Ketelaere should have played ahead of Messias Jr… #MilanInter #UCL
— Kousheyo Bagchi (@KousheyoB) May 10, 2023
It’s the biggest crime in football to take a talent like De Ketelaere and mismanage him this badly.
— Chris (@acmilano94) May 10, 2023
So, like, has Charles De Ketelaere been so bad that he can’t get in the match ahead of Junior Messias even?
That’s a massive fall from grace.
— Debatra Chatterjee (@DbChatterjee) May 10, 2023
Really don’t get why Milan don’t play a bennacer, De ketelaere, Diaz midfield?They should really play on the front foot more because bennacer can easily dictate play and they have one of the best defences in serie A. That front line struggles a lot when leao is not up to speed
— Brandon (@1978badman) May 10, 2023
Why didn’t he sub on charles de ketelaere?
— Tyrone (@ratchet_1738) May 10, 2023
Why bring in pobega that’s late, what happened to de ketelaere
— TWOGBASKI (@UdohItaumah) May 10, 2023
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