AC Milan secured a place in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Wednesday night after a goalless draw in the second leg against Tottenham, advancing 1-0 on aggregate.
The Rossoneri arrived in London with a slender 1-0 advantage from the first encounter last month after Brahim Diaz’s goal decided that meeting, and so it was clear what was needed as we looked to advance to the last eight for the first time in 11 years.
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While we had chances to make it more comfortable in the latter stages, we weren’t clinical enough to take those opportunities and ultimately had to stay switched on to the very last minute in order to get the desired outcome.
Having got the job done against Spurs now though, Stefano Pioli and the players will look forward to the draw to see who we face next as we continue to show vital progression and maturity in Europe to be more competitive in this competition.
AC Milan player ratings vs Tottenham:
Mike Maignan, 7.5 – Accurate with his distribution throughout as he got us moving up the pitch, and was commanding of his area while making some good reaction saves. Saved his most important contribution with the late stop to deny Kane as he showed his all-round class.
Pierre Kalulu, 7 – Aggressive and physical in his approach to nullifying Tottenham’s threat on his side, he put in a solid shift along with the rest of the backline to keep a decisive clean sheet.
Malick Thiaw, 7 – Produced another impressive display as he limited Kane’s influence with an excellent defensive effort. Strong, switched on and composed, he played a vital role at the back for us.
Fikayo Tomori, 7 – Showed really good reading of the game to identify danger and deal with it with minimal fuss. Similar to Kalulu on the other side, kept Tottenham’s attack quiet as we defended well as a unit.
Junior Messias, 6 – Always gives it everything and plays an important role with his work ethic. However, didn’t show enough quality in this one as he had a couple of decent openings to make his mark but wasn’t close to taking them. Picked up an injury in the second half which could now sideline him.
Rade Krunic, 7 – Did a brilliant job in the midfield battle to scrap and prevent Spurs from finding any rhythm or space in our third to exploit and cause problems. Worked well with Tonali to give us a foothold in the game.
Sandro Tonali, 7 – Similar to Krunic in that he put in a real shift for the team to give us an important presence and control in midfield. Will be disappointed he didn’t take a big chance to score, but an important display in our successful bid to progress.
Theo Hernandez, 7 – Looked a real threat at times with his marauding runs forward, and it was on one of those where Romero was sent off in a key moment in the game. Defended well for the most part to keep things tight down that flank, and so it was a positive contribution from the Frenchman.
Brahim Diaz, 6.5 – Found good pockets of space to help us either build counter attacks or cause Spurs problems when we had possession in their half. Showed his flair and unpredictability to offer a threat in our build-up play, and almost got another goal with Forster making a decent save to deny him.
Rafael Leao, 6 – Was a real threat at times on the counter attack with his pace and direct running, but he couldn’t find the all-important finish or final pass to help us kill off the tie. Had openings where he would have felt disappointed not to make the most of them, and so while there were some positives, he could have had a much bigger impact.
Olivier Giroud, 6.5 – Sacrificed himself for the team as he battled away up top to give us a target and someone to play off while looking to offer a threat ourselves, but his defensive contribution was pivotal too as we kept things tight as a collective to earn our clean sheet.
Substitutes:
Alexis Saelemaekers, 6 – Added fresh legs and helped us see out the game to get the desired outcome by putting in a hard-working defensive shift.
Ismael Bennacer, N/A
Divock Origi, N/A
Ante Rebic, N/A
