AC Milan shine in the night of Clash of the Titans

It was the night where two of the giants of world football would meet each other yet again. It became a contest between Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic rather than Juventus and AC Milan. As a matter of fact, AC Milan are not the force at present. Those days are gone when the contest between AC Milan and Juventus attracted a mass global audience. Still, for the followers of Italian Serie A, this contest is still a thrilling one.

And, quite astonishingly, the night belonged to AC Milan and Zlatan!

After a goalless first half, the general feeling among the fans of Rossoneri was that it had not been a bad 45 minutes – they had denied the top-tier side from scoring.

But the second half started as if thunderstruck at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza!

Rabiot required only 74 seconds from the kick-off to break the deadlock in a dashing manner!

The midfielder collected the ball just inside his own half and brushed off Kessie before advancing, nutmegging Theo Hernandez and then, 20 yards from goal, arrowing a left-footed shot into the top-right corner – it was a thunderbolt, which came from nowhere and Milan were left reeling!

There was little the Milan defence could do to deny Rabiot, but Alessio Romagnoli and Simon Kjaer would be well advised to avoid replays of Juve's second, the pair colliding to give Cristiano Ronaldo time and space to beat Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Juventus 2 AC Milan 0 – the game was over by then and it seemed, Juventus would run riot!

But a VAR review spotted a handball from Leonardo Bonucci inside the area, allowing Ibrahimovic to convert from 12 yards – the deficit was reduced and Milan seemed to have rediscovered their fighting spirit.

Milan changed their colour and hit back!

A wonderful team move created space for Kessie to shoot inside the area, a deflection deceiving Wojciech Szczesny, while Leao drove a low strike through the goalkeeper for a third goal in six minutes to turn the match around.

Juve threatened to battle back as Donnarumma saved superbly from Daniele Rugani, but Rebic - earlier denied by Szczesny - lashed in Milan's fourth to clinch the points. Ronaldo thought he had netted again in stoppage time, only to be ruled offside.

A stunning victory for the Rossoneri!

They have scored four Serie A goals against Juventus for their first time since March 1989 (4-0). Prior to this match, the last time Juventus lost a Serie A game after leading by a two-goal margin was in October 2013, against Fiorentina.

Milan have won a Serie A match after going two goals behind for the first time since October 2016 (4-3 against Sassuolo). The Rossoneri have scored two goals in five consecutive Serie A games for their first time since January 2013.

Rebic has both scored and delivered an assist in the same match for the first time in Serie A.

Zlatan beat Ronaldo and after the match, he was upbeat!

After the match, he told DZAN, “If I was here from the beginning of the season, we would have won the Scudetto. I am president, coach, and player, but they only pay me as a footballer”.

Ibrahimovic returned to Milan – where he previously won the Scudetto in 2011 – as a free agent in January after leaving MLS and the LA Galaxy.

His first stint with Milan came between 2011-12, where he scored 56 goals in 85 appearances before making the move to Paris Saint-Germain.

Surely, his return has given the once-mighty Milan unit a much-needed boost.

After the break, it is a different Milan unit.

 

One expects them to make a comeback like the days of Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten, Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, and Kaka!

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 08/07/2020 AC Milan shine in the night of Clash of the Titans 

Thank You

Faisal Caesar