Two months after being measured in the quarterfinals of the Qatar 2022 World CupOlivier Giroud and Harry Kane will meet again this Tuesday: in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, in an exciting Milan-Tottenham that for the red and black team means playing again in that round after nine that year of loss.
December 10, 2022 marked the same Giroud (the winning goal for France 1-2) as Harry Kane (One of the short-lived 1-1 for England equalizing Aurélien Tchouaméni’s ‘goal’). Kane retains a doubly bitter memory of that Saturday, as he missed a penalty in addition to running into the semifinals.
Milan-Tottenham
San Siro, 21.00 (MLC)
Milan: Tatarusanu; Kalulu, Thiaw, Tomori; Calabria, Krunic, Tonali, Theo Hernandez; Brahim Diaz, Giroud and Leo
Instructor: Stefano Pioli
Tottenham: Forster; Lenglet, Dier, Romero; P. Porro, Skipp, Sarr, Perisic; Kulusevski, Harry Kane and Son
Coach: Antonio Conte
Referee: Sandro Scharer (Switzerland)
VAR: Fedayi San (Switzerland)
Olivier Giroud has scored 4 goals against Tottenham throughout his career and is the opponent he has faced most times, 18, with Manchester United. In his 52 Champions League matches, Giroud has scored 22 goals (he currently has 4). Kane, 21 in 30 games (one currently) and 17 in this Premier, where Tottenham’s historic top scorer is the second highest scorer after Erling Haaland (25).
Milan will listen this Tuesday, after his long absence, the song of the Champions League in a round of 16, but faced a crisis with the visit of Tottenham. The reigning Italian champions beat Torino on Friday (both from Giroud), a victory in which they ended a streak of seven games without a win and five consecutive defeats. Milan are 18 points behind Napoli, the Serie A leader. But Stefano Pioli, the red and black coach, said yesterday: “It doesn’t matter how you get to these games.” By the way, Pioli expressed his gratitude to Antonio Conte, the Spurs coach: “He was one of the few teammates who called me to congratulate me when we won the ‘scudetto’.
Tottenham, who on Saturday in the Premier League were beaten by Leicester (4-1), also have problems. The ‘Foxes’ highlighted the defensive problems of Conte’s team (12 points behind the leader Arsenal, with 2 games less than Spurs, who do not rely on one of their emblems, Hugo Lloris, injured). To make matters worse this Saturday, Rodrigo Bentancur was also injured, which will rule him out for the rest of the season.
Pioli, with Rafael Leao as another good reference, also has important absences, such as Mike Maignan, Ismael Bennacer and Fikayo Tomori, who are injured. More than ever, Milan fans will fully support their team, which hadn’t reached the quarterfinals in 11 years. Leao, Giroud and Brahim Díaz will form the offensive trident.
Conte, who has just recovered from a gallbladder removal, lined up, in the absence of Lloris, Fraser Forster, who conceded 4 goals against Leicester. Tottenham have not won a title since 2008.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
