It took 11 long years but in the end Milan returned to their rightful place, among the best 8 teams in Europe.
The vintage we are experiencing is nothing short of crazy, it defies a lucid and conscious interpretation.
At the end of January I invoked Pioli’s exemption, in the last two posts the brothers Seal and Gian defined this bankruptcy season in no uncertain terms.
Well, I believe that judgment must be suspended, never as in this case do I believe that the accounts must be done in the end.
What appears by now quite clearly is that a choice was made at the company and technical staff level by going all-in on the Champions League. And after all, if each changeover is worth roughly 25 million euros (more or less, as much as winning a championship) it is difficult to blame them.
Between now and the quarter-finals, however, there is a month, four league matches (with the away match in Naples in the middle) that will have to be played with the utmost concentration to start locking down one of the top four places, then we can dive back into these magical European evenings.
Because it’s useless to deny it, evenings like the one we’ve just experienced are slowly bringing us back to what is our natural vocation, to our amniotic fluid.
Let’s be honest, a slightly more than normal Milan has disposed of the fourth strength of the Premier at will, perhaps the abyss that we think separates us from certain levels is more in our heads than in reality.
In my view, in the double confrontation right now in Europe there are only three unplayable teams for Milan, Real – City – Bayern, with all the others we can have our say if Nyon’s urn will give us a hand.
#RoadtoIstanbul
Maignan: 7+ He’s the real playmaker of the team, impressive for how he directs all the defense always giving his teammates a relief solution with his movements and his good feet, the icing on the cake is the great save from Kane’s header in added time
Rabbit: 7 Clears Perisic from the field and also renders Son harmless, proving that he has rediscovered the form and brilliance of last season’s finale
Thiaw: 7 At the moment it is the only real added value of the last market, but what value! Physically overflowing, he leaves Kane practically crumbs for the entire ninety minutes
Tomori: 7 He resets Florence’s mistake with a practically perfect performance, moving in perfect harmony with his team mates
Messiah: 6+ He played with great commitment and spirit of sacrifice in both phases, a pity for the shot blocked in the first half and for the injury in the second half
Saele makers: 6- A few smudges here and there, but all in all it does its job
Krunick: 7 As often happens to him, he starts like this and then rises to the chair in the second half, when he towers over the median winning a large number of duels, say what you want but Bravorade changes life in our midfield
Tonals: 6.5 He fights like a lion against everyone who comes within range, dying to close all the passing lines, it is fatal that he loses his lucidity in front of goal, thwarting two good opportunities
Theo Hernandez: 7.5 (best) Overflowing on the wing and when he cuts in the middle, he is probably the strongest player we have in the squad in terms of personality and awareness
Brahim Diaz: 7 I don’t know about you but I liked him a lot, with his vivacity and his unpredictability between the lines he drove the Spurs midfielder crazy, with a little more lucidity in front of goal he could close the game well in advance
Bennacer: 6+ A quarter of an hour of shrewd administration of the lap with the opponent reduced to ten
Leo: 6 First half simply irritating in the approach and in the offensive contribution, much better in the second half when he vents several times causing great difficulty for the whites’ rearguard
Rebic: SV
Giroud: 6.5 A game of enormous sacrifice by Oliviero who fights against the London central players, giving and taking blows from orbi, commendable for the humility with which he puts himself at the complete service of the team
Origin: SV That shot could have given a different meaning to the rest of his season, but it didn’t go over the post
Pegs: 7 Can we say that the celebrated Andonio serenely wrapped up on both the outward and return journeys? Apart from Kane’s final header, I can’t remember a single notable occasion from the Londoners in the space of 180 minutes
Max
