Champions League: Real Madrid and AC Milan in the last four

Dimitri Vernet with AFP 10:31 am, April 19, 2023

Real Madrid, defending champions, dismissed Chelsea (2-0, as in the first leg) to reach the semifinals of the Champions League, a level that AC Milan finds after sixteen years of absence thanks to its 1-1 draw in Naples, Tuesday (1-0 in the first leg). In the last square, a clash is looming between Real Karim Benzema and Manchester City, imperial against Bayern (3-0) before the return, Wednesday in Munich. And a Milan derby is emerging if Inter is not surprised by Benfica (2-0 in the first leg) at San Siro.

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Olivier Giroud of the game

AC Milan have fulfilled their part of the bargain, meanwhile, after keeping a cool head in Napoli's volcanic Diego-Maradona stadium, host of a C1 quarter-final for the first time in its history. The Red and Blacks suffered from entry, as if stifled by the pressing of Napoli, but they knew how to make the back round and proceeded against it, before finding the fault by Olivier Giroud (43rd, 1-0).

The Frenchman's name appears on the scoreboard for the fifth time this season in the Champions League, but his goal bears the seal of Rafael Leão, the decisive passer after a superb solitary raid launched from his own side.

Missed penalties

The young Portuguese striker got earlier a penalty, missed by Giroud (22nd) in front of Alex Meret, the Neapolitan goalkeeper also author of a saving save in front of "Olive", from the leg (28th). Napoli also wasted a penalty by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (82nd). Or, rather: French goalkeeper Mike Maignan, an expert in the field, stopped him. The fervor of the tifosi was not enough for Napoli, nor the return of the star striker Victor Osimhen, forfeit in the first leg, scorer at the very end of the match (90th + 3), in vain.

The Azzurri, without suspended Andre Franck Anguissa and Kim Min-jae, also had bad luck with injuries to Mario Rui and Matteo Politano in the first half. AC Milan, fourth in Serie A ahead of Inter, is back in the semi-finals of the European Cup for the first time since 2007, the year of its last title.

For Real Madrid, the most successful club in the competition (14 titles), it is a habit. The "White House" reached the last four for the third time in a row, for the eleventh time since the 2010/11 season. The defending champion, jostled at Stamford Bridge, managed to stun the English club with a fatal double from Rodrygo (58th, 80th), reproducing the score of the first leg at the Bernabeu.

The "Blues", in crisis, could have made the Spaniards doubt but neither N'Golo Kanté, with his missed recovery from the left (11th), nor Marc Cucurella, with his close-range shot pushed away by Thibaut Courtois (45th + 1), found the flaw. For Chelsea, crowned in 2021, it is the last ray of sunshine of a failed season that disappeared on Tuesday. The fourth defeat since Frank Lampard's return to the bench sounds like a resounding failure for the American owners, ultra-spendthrift but out of the C1 and far from the European places in the league.