Milan fell to Zagreb and reached the round of 16

With a tremendous start to the second half, Milan reaffirms itself in Europe against Dinamo Zagreb (0-4) which is lower and the red and black pointed to their qualification to the Champions League round of 16, where they need to score against Salzburg at San Siro next week after the Austrian team lost to Chelsea (1-2), which was classified which is number one. of the group.

With more maturity and efficiency than soccer eloquence, from less to more and already knowing the favorable result between Chelsea and Salzburg, Milan jumped without its gala eleven at the Maksimir stadium with the obligation, and the pressure it implies, to beat a rival on a low paper who, yes, did not make things easy in the first act, who came with good options to qualify for the round of 16.

Pioli opted for Kalulu on the right, for Kjaer and Gabbia forming an unprecedented pair of central defenders up to this time and for De Ketelaere in midfield, dispensing to a Brahim Díaz who arrived in good formbut there was discomfort after the league game against Monza, and a Maignan under the sticks still injured.

While it is true that the ‘rossonero’ team took the initiative, imposed their pace and superiority, they did not intimidate a Dinamo team with periods in the first half where they were in command and enjoyed opportunities to do damage . Especially with Ljubicic hitting the left lane, attack on the less protected area of ​​Milan.

Tonali and Bennacer anchored the midfield from the start. Milan’s usual duo worked like a charm from the start, balancing the team, getting the ball and connecting with a De Ketelaere who, despite giving off flashes of quality, was not very consistent.

It was precisely the individual quality of the Milanistas that prevailed in the three-quarters area and began to tip the balance. The clearest for Milan in the first half was Kjaer, who hooked a good volley inside the area towards goal that was saved by the Dinamo defence.

Leao began to gradually carburet, become more comfortable and take more risks due to the left-handed profile, taking advantage of his good physique and his best ally, a Theo Hernández who joins him from behind in all the time, converting the left wing, again, into a constant generator of opportunities.

With the Portuguese loose, Milan definitely took over the game and killed him with two blows at key moments. At the end of the first half, in their best moment, Milan gained dominance with a shot from Gabbia after a perfect cross from Tonali at the far post. He soon extended the lead with a goal as soon as he left the locker room, this time by the always dangerous Leao, who took advantage of the doubts of the rival defense to slip between them and set up a one-on- one to make it 0-2.

Milan was an unstoppable whirlwind in the second half. Giroud added the third moments later, in the 59th minute, from eleven meters after Ljubicic brought down Tonali inside the area. The fourth was made by Ljubicic himself in his own goal in the 69th minute, when his teammate’s clearance bounced off his body and straight into the goal.

Once the match was decided, Pioli moved the bench, gave his usual team a twenty-minute rest and finished the match without Leao, Theo, Giroud and Bennacer. It could have been more goals, but either offside, the mistake or Livakovic prevented it. Milan follows the round of 16 of the Champions League, the San Siro will answer the rivalry against Salzburg where the ‘rossoneri’ only need to score to confirm the classification.