Olivier Giroud Puts AC Milan Into Champions League Semi-Finals Since 16 Years
Olivier Giroud missed a penalty then scored the crucial goal to send AC Milan into their first Champions League semi-final for 16 years, by beating Napoli 2-1 on aggregate.
Milan arrived in southern Italy with a one-goal advantage and thought they had missed their best chance to double that lead when Giroud’s spot-kick was saved by Alex Meret just after the hour-mark.
But minutes before the break, Rafael Leao went on a superb solo run from the edge of his own box to the penalty area, before squaring to Giroud to tap home a simple finish.
Napoli, who welcomed back Victor Osimhen from injury in time for this game, also saw a penalty for themselves saved as Mike Maignan denied Khvicha Kvaratskhelia with ten minutes to go, before Osimhen headed in a late consolation.
Milan will now turn their attentions to a potential semi-final against city rivals Inter, who are 2-0 up ahead of their home Champions League quarter-final second leg with Benfica on Wednesday night.
“It feels good, we put in a great shift today and they’re having a great season,” said England international and AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori to BT Sport.
“To reach a semi-final, lots of people wrote us off before we kicked a ball, but we deserve to be here.
“We almost reached a clean sheet, and we looked great in the counterattack. Now we can sit back and watch the other ties.
“I will be watching the [other quarter-final] game on my sofa as I’m so tired! We are worried about ourselves, we will be relaxed and wait for who we play. It could be Inter which would be a nice semi-final, but Benfica are a strong team.”
Giroud’s rage to redemption
