AC Milan did their duty last night by beating Newcastle United, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to qualify for the Champions League round of 16.
As this morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes, in the other match in the group there a draw between Borussia Dortmund and PSG gave second place to the team from Ligue 1, meaning Milan have been ‘relegated’ to the Europa League.
The Rossoneri are therefore eliminated from the top European club competition, but yesterday’s success still allows them to remain in Europe and participate in the second phase of the Europa League.
Ultimately it is a shame, because Milan achieved a comeback victory thanks to a great team spirit and sacrifice. They were down by a goal and after a rather disappointing first half, the team overcame Newcastle in the second half thanks to the goals by Pulisic and Chukwueze.
Stefano Pioli’s changes were decisive and he had excellent responses from those who came on during the match, such as Jovic, Okafor and above all Chukwueze, who took the winning goal very well.
There is satisfaction at having remained in Europe, but obviously there are also great regrets at not having managed to secure a spot in the Champions League round of 16. As Pioli stated post-match, the biggest regret is undoubtedly the first leg against Newcastle at San Siro, when 25 shots resulted in zero goals.
However, the past is now the past, we need to look forward and Milan must now try to win the Europa League, which is not the Champions League but still remains a prestigious trophy that the Devil has never won in its long history.
Disappointing but must look forward. Europa league a competition we can certainly win, but it will depend. Pioli either needs to adapt and evolve, leaving his one dimension tactic behind, or needs to be replaced. We can’t afford to drop points against any more big teams, especially in must win matches.
Milan should do everything to win every match in EL because of the upcoming Club World Cup. We need those points to compete for the 2nd spot!
Not many really good teams in there except Liverpool and Leverkusen.
With a good draw we can get far. Will be fun to see what happens 🙂