This match was absolutely amazing. From the formation and
lineups, to the way our players played all 90 minutes, even when down to ten
men. Juventus have shown themselves to be fallible lately, but the big story
was how well Milan played. Even if it would have been better to have not
conceded the goal, and to have all of our players available for the second leg,
this was by far the best Milan performance I have seen all season. Amazing.
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| Amazing. |
Let’s start with the big controversy: Cristiano Ronaldo’s
hair is shocking. Just when you thought you couldn’t hate a player more, he
goes and does that to his hair. And it worked against him, as time after time
he was bossed by little Bennacer, who is fully five inches shorter than him.
Milan took so many shots, Buffon now has dementia after
trying to count them all. In fact, it was our most clinical match, with 16
shots, 11 on target. Juve only took eight shots, with four on target, and only
one of those was in the first half at all. Most of them came after we were down
to ten men.
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| Why would anyone do that to their hair? |
Speaking of cards, Ibra earned a yellow, which will be
combined with his yellow card from the Coppa Italia in 2011 to see him suspended
for the next leg. Castillejo will also miss, having earned his second Coppa
yellow in this match for losing his temper. And then there is Theo Hernandez,
who was not at his best today, and earned two yellows in this match alone,
earning him an early shower and leaving Milan on ten men with twenty minutes to
play.
That was ten minutes after Rebic’s amazing goal, from a
Castillejo assist, in the 61st minute. 1-0 Milan. He usually doesn’t really
celebrate, but with the record-breaking almost 73,000 fans at the San Siro, he
seemed to understand how epic the moment was. He also elbowed Cuadrado in the
face while in the box just two minutes later, and even with the VAR review, Valeri
controversially did not award a penalty for Juventus.
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| The assist and the goal |
The other controversial call that was also reviewed by VAR
was a handball by Calabria in the box in the 89th minute. Valeri did decide to
award this one, apparently because Calabria had his arm out, which is
considered an “unnatural position.” Fans were frustrated because Calabria had
his back to the ball, and Ronaldo appeared to intentionally kick it into
Calabria’s arm for the call. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that
Ronaldo took advantage of someone.
Like it or not, the penalty was awarded, and in spite of his
tiny little man-bun, Ronaldo converted the penalty for the equalizer, giving
Juventus a valuable away goal. 1-1 all. Despite being on ten men, Milan still
created chances, with both Laxalt and Kessie taking shots in stoppage time.
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| Amazing. |
Pioli’s 4-2-3-1 was simply amazing. I noticed when the
lineups came out that he had chosen the perfect formation with the players he
had at his disposal, and wow, did they not disappoint. Bennacer and Kessie as
the midfield duo were absolutely phenomenal, Juve were made completely impotent.
As much as Leao and Ibrahimovic enjoyed a steamy love affair at the beginning
of January, Rebic and Ibrahimovic are an absolutely formidable duo in attack, and Castillejo has
really upped his game as well.
A lot of fans are focusing on what Valeri did or didn’t do,
and Maldini
wisely chose not to comment on that issue. Instead, he also praised the
team for how well they played. Honestly, I cannot get caught up in the
controversy, either, because I am still so excited for how well Milan played. This
match was simply amazing.
This post inspired by the music of Elle King's "Exes and Oh's"
Our next match is
Serie A Week 24
Milan vs. Torino
Monday, February
17 • 20:45 CET (2:45pm EST)