Milan, 2021 – With nails and teeth the Milan tears off the first point of his Champions League stopping on1-1 the Porto at the end of a match with two faces: the first half was in fact the prerogative of the guests who, as happened at the “Dragao”, put Milan in great difficulty with a suffocating pressure and intensity, taking the lead as early as 5 ‘with Luis Diaz – hero of the first leg – and touching on several occasions even doubling. In the second half, however, the reaction of pride and determination from Milan arrived, which raised aggression and the center of gravity, finding the equalizer in the 60th minute with Mbemba’s own network on Kalulu’s initiative, took over in the second half in Calabria, knocked out by a slight injury suffered at the end of the first 45 ‘of the race. A draw that further lit the hopes of the Rossoneri who also found the 2-1 in the final, but canceled by Ibrahimovic for a rather clear offside. A draw that is good for morale but is of little use to the ranking of Pioli’s men who now have to hope for a failed Atletico success over Liverpool – and a subsequent and unlikely clear path – to keep alive the few hopes of continuing the journey in Champions.
First half
In his 4-2-3-1 Pioli chooses Romagnoli to give Kjaer a rest, he places Tonali alongside Bennacer preferring him to Kessie and on the frontline – to support the only striker Giroud – he relies on Saelemaekers, Diaz and Leao , favorite to Krunic. Classic 4-4-2, on the other hand for Conceiçao who has to deal with several absences (including the one in extremis of Uribe, replaced in the starting eleven by Gruijc) and on the flanks he relies on Otavio and Luis Diaz, while in front he lines up the tandem attack composed by Evanilson and Taremi. Sprint start of the Portuguese who after less than 1 ‘already create a danger to Milan on the development of a lineout, with Evanilson who, however, only finds the outside of the Rossoneri network. The rhythms are immediately high on both fronts but there are also several errors, such as that of Bennacer who costs Milan dearly in the 5 ‘: the Algerian in fact gets the ball blown in a somewhat rough way by Gruijc who then enters the area and serves Luis Diaz who with great coldness scores the Portuguese 1-0, chilling Tatarusanu. A cold shower for the Rossoneri who feel the blow, struggle to contain the initiatives of the unleashed Colombian winger and the Portuguese intensity, risking to capitulate even on the 19 ‘on the header from a free kick from Gruijc and on the 25’ on that of Taremi, who, however, find the prompt and decisive response between the poles of Tatarusanu. The Rossoneri’s first ring arrives in the 32nd minute and is entrusted to Giroud’s left foot who forces Djogo Costa to perform extraordinary from the edge of the area. However, too little to worry a Porto that defends the 1-0 until the double whistle of Turpin, risking something too much to tell the truth even in the recovery when Saelemaekers, at the height of a Rossoneri counterattack, does not find the mirror of the opposing goal from great location.
The recovery
At the resumption of the game Pioli is forced to call into question Kalulu to replace a Calabria in not perfect condition after a contrast at the end of the first half and Milan restarts with a good attitude, trying to appear in the opposing half with greater insistence and conviction. At 51 ‘Porto is saved by a very slight offside on the throw of Saelemaekers for Leao who all alone in front of Djogo Costa throws the ball on the outside of the opponent’s net. Given the difficulties of his team, Conceiçao tries to tack in the running at 4-2-3-1, moving Luis Dias to the right and Otavio to the trocar; a new set-up that bears its first fruits in the 56th minute when Evanilson hits the crossbar from an excellent position with an excellent header. Milan’s response is vehement and leads to a draw in the 60th minute: on a free-kick beaten by Bennacer, the ball filters through and Giroud tries the shot that engages Djogo Costa, who however deflects the ball on the feet of Kalulu who crosses in the middle and finds the unfortunate deflection in the door of Mbemba for the 1-1 Red-black. The draw further galvanized Pioli’s men who also threw Kessié and Krunic into the fray. The Portuguese return to be seen by the parts of Tatarusanu in the 70th minute with a good change of play by Gruijc from which the action that leads to the shot Taremi, who uses a rebound but shoots the ball sky-high from the center of the area. In the 75th minute the moment also comes for Zlatan Ibrahimovic who takes the place of a very generous Giroud and shows up immediately, in the 77th minute, putting Djogo Costa in apprehension on Leao’s pocket. To choke in the throat Ibra’s scream after scoring the 2-1 at 82, is instead the flag of the linesman who signals an offside of the Swede at the beginning of the action. The Rossoneri, however, do not let go and try to exploit the game in the open field but in the end they can no longer find the flicker of overtaking.
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MATTEO AIROLDI
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