Rossoneri scoreless in 497′: the last center in Europe is that of Giroud at Napoli. This season Olivier and Leao combined have almost 90 days without a goal
Milan and Benfica: please sit down in the corner. Or maybe behind the blackboard, because evidently neither of these two teams has learned to score goals. The Rossoneri and the Portuguese are sadly the only ones left in this Champions League without the pleasure of having scored a goal. In the case of Milan, at least in the previous outings against Newcastle and Dortmund there was the regret of a considerable offensive production that had not materialized in the net. This time, apart from a wedding invitation incredibly botched by Pulisic, one cannot even rely on the lack of aim in front of goal: it was unthinkable that the Devil managed to create the mass of opportunities seen in previous outings, the “trick” to Paris should simply have been to capitalize on the little it could have had.
Count
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There is one fact, in particular, that is very impressive when thinking about Milan’s fraternal relationship with the European stage: with the 0-3 at the Parc des Princes, Milan became the first Italian team not to score for five matches in a row in the Champions League. A tally that has its roots in last season, with the two derbies in the semi-final, and leads to the three matches of the current year. A difficult retaliation to digest in the eyes of a club famous for its European DNA. Going into detail about Europe’s offensive struggles, we have reached 497 minutes without a goal: the last one was by Giroud in the 43rd minute of the first half against Napoli, in the quarter-finals of ’22-23. A record negative streak for the Devil in the Champions League.
Abstinence
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Pulisic this time not very lucid in front of the opponent’s goal, Giroud forced into overtime again this year, Leao without ferocity in the last quarter of the pitch, Jovic who gets injured while warming up on the sidelines during the match in progress (sic), Okafor who doesn’t even start for Paris due to fatigue, Chukwueze who ends up knocked out in the national team. Everywhere you turn, there are pains in attack at Milanello, and in the meantime Giroud and Leao continue an abstinence which, for a top-tier team with high-level objectives, is starting to be sensational. Olivier has been dry since September 1st, Rafa since the 23rd. That’s 54 and 32 days of fasting respectively, which together makes it almost 90. And to think that a year ago Giroud was the Rossoneri’s absolute protagonist of the group stage, with 4 goals and 2 assists. “Maybe with four shots we’ll score five goals,” Pioli had joked on the eve of the match to those who pointed out the offensive sterility of recent times. In hindsight, a decidedly failed joke.
October 26, 2023 (modified October 26, 2023 | 00:58)
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2023-10-25 22:15:59
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