In one of the most disappointing nights in the recent history of the club, AC Milan were knocked out by Feyenoord in the playoffs of the UEFA Champions League. After losing 1-0 during the first leg in Rotterdam, the Rossoneri were not able to overturn the result in the second leg at San Siro despite scoring the first goal in the first minute of the match through Mexican striker Santiago Gimenez.
Former Philadelphia Union striker Julian Carranza scored the deciding 1-1 goal in the second half, some minutes after the red card received by AC Milan left back Theo Hernandez, the moment that completely changed the game in Milan and probably describes better than anything else the current season of the Italian giants.
The Rossoneri had a dream start to the first half as they were able to score the opening goal of the night in San Siro in the first minute of the match in Milan thanks to the header of Mexican striker Santiago Gimenez, who was able to find the net thanks to the assist of defender Malick Thiaw after the first corner kick of the game. AC Milan pushed a lot and tried multiple times to score the second goal as soon as possible, but despite having some good chances especially with Joao Felix and Gimenez, the first half ended with the side coached by Sergio Conceicao up only one goal.
The second half started off as the first one ended, with the Rossoneri pushing hard to find the deciding goal, but the game was shocked by the second yellow card of Theo Hernandez. The Frenchman, after receiving a yellow card in the first half for a foul, was later given a red card for diving while on a yellow, leaving his team in the most important and crucial moment of the playoffs and possibly of the whole season.
From that moment on, the game changed, while Conceicao decided to replace American winger Christian Pulisic with full back Davide Bartesaghi, in order to find tactical stability in the defense. However, it didn’t work out as the Italian giants conceded their first goal of the night in Milan at the 73 minute with another header of former Philadelphia Union striker Julian Carranza, who found the space between Strahnija Pavlovic and the same Bartesaghi.
Despite AC Milan’s efforts to score another goal to go at least to extra time, Feyenoord kept the result 1-1 until the end, and eliminated the Italian giants out of the Champions League in the playoffs before the knockout stages in one of the biggest disappointments of the tournament.
The biggest disappointment
Despite having a great start to the game, fullback Theo Hernandez, the French international, showed his worst side as he received two yellow cards in less than one hour. The first one, a foul that was not inevitable, and then the dive in the second half inside the box, which cost Hernandez the second yellow card of the playoffs, and from that moment on the curse of the game completely changed in worse for the home team. It was definitely worrying to see one of the best players of AC Milan falling in such an important match, increasing the chances to see him leaving in the summer 2025.
FC Como tried to sign Hernandez in the winter transfer window and offered more than $40 million to sign him, but the player opted to stay and refused that option, but it’s not impossible to imagine him leaving in the summer especially after such a bad performance. Both the player and the club will evaluate what’s best for them in the coming months, but it’s probably already time to reflect about what’s next for a player that made the recent history of the Italian club.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic: “We killed ourselves”
Zlatan Ibrahimovic spoke to Sky Italy and opened up about his feelings right after the game.
“We are angry with ourselves. We killed ourselves. We are not angry with the referee. It’s our fault, there are no excuses or complaints. We have to look in the mirror and see what we did wrong.
“Today is a disappointment, the Champions League was a goal. Before the start of the season, we wanted to win the league. We won the Supercoppa Italiana, the Coppa Italia is missing. The history of the club is to aim for these trophies. Then, during the season, things don’t always go as you thought.
“We weren’t happy and in January we made these moves to improve, but there’s no guarantee. I want to see a dominant Milan, like Milan. When I arrived four or five years ago it wasn’t the Milan that everyone was used to and then we grew from there.”
It’s likely that the position of manager Sergio Conceicao will also be in danger despite the fact he was only appointed in December 2024 to replace Paulo Fonseca, who was sacked after a difficult start of the season. As of today, and especially after the disappointment of the Champions League elimination, nobody is safe anymore.
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