Milan became the fourth Champions League quarter-finalist. A modest advance (1:0) from the first match was enough. The second leg against Tottenham ended in a goalless draw, with England finishing short-handed after Cristian Romero was sent off. Milan will play in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in eleven years.
Milan faced Tottenham in the 1/8 finals of the Champions League. The first leg at the San Siro gave the Italian champions a small advance (1-0) thanks to Brahim Diaz’s goal. In the second leg at home, Tottenham was already in charge of Antonio Conte, who had to undergo surgery to remove his gallbladder in early February. The English were much more weakened than their rivals, because there was, among others, Hugo Lloris, Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma.
Milan in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. First time in 11 years
The first half at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was absolutely forgettable. Neither Tottenham nor Milan had a single shot on target for a long time. By far Milan’s best situation was in the 18th minute when he cleverly played a free-kick, but Junior Messias fired a disastrous shot on goal. The main goal of the Italians was to keep Tottenham out of their own goal, which was reflected in the small number of chances for Harry Kane. The pace of the game remained low. Milan fans in the stands were the most active.
Milan could have scored in the 51st minute when Brahim Diaz found himself in the box and fired, but then Fraser Forster reacted in time. A rebound from Rafael Leao turned out to be inaccurate. Any opportunity Tottenham had to wait until the 64th minute when Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg found himself in the penalty area, but his shot flew straight into Mike Maignan. The English had higher possession of the ball, but the Italians also tried their hand at attacking from time to time – be it Rafael Leao or Olivier Giroud.
Tottenham switched to four strikers in the closing minutes but ended the game short-handed after Cristian Romero was shown a second yellow card for a thuggish foul on Theo Hernandez. Milan could have closed the game definitively, but Sandro Tonali probably missed the match point. In the end, Mike Maignan saved the team from a Tottenham free-kick, then Milan ran on the counter. In the end, there was no goal for Milan, because Divock Origi hit the post. The team led by Antonio Conte was unable to go to extra-time and was eliminated from the Champions League.
Milan will play in the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since the 11/12 season. Then the Italians reached this phase of the competition and lost 1: 3 on aggregate to Barcelona. The team led by Stefano Pioli is the fourth to secure promotion to the quarter-finals of this competition – this group also includes Benfica Lisbon, Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
