Champions League
Milan looked to be in control of their knockout phase playoff against Feyenoord until Théo Hernández shot his own team in the foot.
Christian Pulisic’s dreams of winning the Champions League for a second time in his career are over after AC Milan were disappointingly eliminated in the knockout phase playoff by Dutch club Feyenoord at San Siro.
The Serie A giants went into Tuesday’s second leg with a 1-0 deficit to overturn after a narrow defeat in Rotterdam last week. However, their quest for a comeback got off to a perfect start as Santi Giménez, who joined the club from Feyenoord in January, headed them in front after just a minute.
However, Milan’s hopes of turning the tie around were derailed early in the second half by captain Théo Hernandez’s sending-off for two yellow cards. And the Frenchman is unlikely to be popular with his teammates after being shown a completely avoidable red card.
Théo Hernandez’s red card costs Milan dearly
Hernández had already been booked for a petulant foul just before halftime when he roared forward into the Feyenoord penalty box in characteristic fashion minutes into the second period. After taking a touch past a defender, who didn’t make contact with him, he opted to go down looking for a penalty rather than shoot or fire the ball across goal from a dangerous position.
Referee Szymon Marciniak immediately spotted the full-back’s blatant cheating and showed him a second yellow card for diving, changing the entire complexion of the contest.
Milan had been on the front foot for almost the entirety of the game up until that point but were unable to maintain their dominance once at a numerical disadvantage. Feyenoord suddenly appeared as an attacking threat and ended up winning the tie thanks to Julián Carranza’s header from a brilliant Hugo Bueno cross, which sealed a 2-1 aggregate win.
What next for Pulisic and Milan? Coppa Italia, UCL qualification
The defeat is another huge blow for Pulisic’s Milan, who are seventh in the Serie A standings, 15 points behind leaders Napoli. They have a five-point gap to make up to fourth place, which will likely be the minimum required to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
The Rossoneri did, at least, win the Supercoppa Italiana (Italian Super Cup) in January and will also be targeting a Coppa Italia triumph; they will face either Inter or Lazio in the semifinals in April.
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About the author
Scottish sports journalist and content creator. After running his own soccer-related projects, in 2022 he joined Diario AS, where he mainly reports on the biggest news from around Europe’s leading soccer clubs, Liga MX and MLS, and covers live games in a not-too-serious tone. Likes to mix things up by dipping into the world of American sports.
