Milan was reborn at San Siro to beat PSG. After a negative streak that threatened Pioli’s position, Leao and Giroud overcame Skriniar’s initial goal and unleashed madness in a San Siro in need of joy. The group of death tightens and Luis Enrique laments. PSG gets into trouble with two games left.
It was a match marked by the preview and the expectation it aroused Gianluigi Donnarumma’s return to San Siro as rival. Milan’s Curva Sud had already warned that there would be hostility and so it was: loud whistle for the Italian every time he touched the ball and throwing fake bills with the legend “Dollarumma” printed on the back. They do not forget his departure as a free agent to Paris.
But once Gil Manzano whistled the start, the show started and the VIPs in the stands (Henry, Beckham, Noel Gallagher and Balotelli) enjoyed the ‘show’ given by both teams. It was a great game worthy of the Champions League.
Donnarumma picks up a bill thrown by the San Siro stands.
The first half was a flurry of chances… and for the game to go 1-1 at halftime was a miracle. Loftus-Cheek, who put in a great performance in his return to the eleven post-injury, had the first clear shot. Failure, Skriniar no. The Slovakian (former Inter) returned to northern Italy and took advantage of a great extension to Marquinhos’ near post to make it 0-1.
The people in San Siro were murmuring. The goal after nine minutes extinguished the fans who had shown themselves minutes before with a spectacular ‘tifo’. But Milan responded and scored their first goal in the Champions League thanks to Rafael Leao. A Chilean who surpassed Donnarumma and broke the ‘Rossonera’ drought.
There were more. Much more. Maignan saved two one-on-ones against Mbappé and Dembélé hit the crossbar with a shot from the edge of the area. Giroud responded to the counterattack and Tomori tested Donnarumma with a direct free kick. There were no defenses or control in the midfield. It was a freeway. A street runner that the neutral spectator enjoyed.
Chilean shot from Leao for 1-1.
The second half couldn’t have started better… for Milan. The PSG defense relaxed too much, Theo caught a dead ball on the baseline and put an excellent cross into the area. There it rose Giroud like a twenty-something. The Frenchman, at 37 years old, ‘knocked down’ Skriniar and pierced Donnarumma’s net like an imperial finish. San Siro was exploding. It was 2-1. Milan came back and he became the oldest French footballer to score a goal in the Champions League.
PSG was still lost and the goal sent them directly to the canvas. Luis Enrique tried to react and made a triple substitution: Gonzalo Ramos, Fabián and Kang-In Lee. But the game was where Milan wanted it. Donnarumma had to stretch to avoid Theo Hernández’s 3-1 goal from a free kick. Loftus-Cheek was leaving a recital by blasting PSG’s midfield into space.
Mbappé, however, refused to fall. He tried to pull his team and tested Maignan again. But his teammate defended himself well and stopped him again. Milan, without moving the bench, then took a back pass and gave the ball to the Parisians. They locked themselves in and waited for their rival. PSG, however, lacked lucidity and could not find space. Milan suffered little.
Giroud and Leao celebrate Milan’s 2-1 win.
But, when everyone was looking at Mbappé, Leao reaffirmed himself in the football scene. Recital of the Portuguese to lead Milan, which grew again with the entries of Okafor and Krunic. The Swiss, in fact, made it 3-1 and forced Donnarumma to make a save down low, next to the long post.
PSG had one last rush. They drew on pride… and talent. Kang-In Lee, who had been one of the French team’s best in recent weeks, scrambled in the area and finished off the post. Luis Enrique sighed on the wing… and his team crashed in San Siro.
2023-11-07 22:01:31
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