The semifinals of the UEFA Champions League kicked off this week as the final four teams continued on in their quest to clinch a spot in the final in Istanbul on June 10.
Manchester City extended its unbeaten run to 21 games in all competitions (with 17 wins). Vinícius Júnior scored his 23rd goal in 51 matches for Real Madrid this season. Edin Dzeko of Inter Milan became the 11th player able to score in the Champions League/European Cup semifinals with two different teams. For only the third time in its history, AC Milan has suffered three losses to Inter Milan in the same season.
Here’s what else stood out from the first leg of the semifinals:
Inter Milan has one foot in the final after big derby win
Wednesday’s Derby della Madonnina between AC Milan and Inter Milan at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza had the makings of a cagey contest right from the start. These city rivals know each other quite well, so the expectation was that both clubs would feel each other out for a bit in hopes of finding an opening.
Instead, Inter came out flying and earned a deserved 2-0 win, putting them in the driver’s seat going into next week’s second leg.
The Nerazzurri were in front after only eight minutes courtesy of Edin Džeko’s picturesque volley into the top right corner off a whipped in corner kick by Çalhanoğlu. Before Milan even had a chance to lick its wounds, it found itself down 2-0 three minutes later when Henrikh Mkhitaryan lifted his shot over goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
A shell-shocked Milan finally found its bearings and grew into the game, with Davide Calabria and Sandro Tonali coming close to scoring and pulling the Rossoneri back to level terms.
But Milan can have no complaints about losing to Inter – their city rivals thoroughly dominated this latest installment of the Milan Derby. Inter’s attacking performance was all the more impressive considering Milan had only conceded one goal in its previous six Champions League outings.
Big question: Is there any way back for AC Milan?
Inter Milan is poised to book their plane ticket for Istanbul. It’s going to take a Herculean effort by AC Milan to dig themselves out of this hole after looking completely unlike itself in this disappointing display.
Still, Milan manager Stefano Pioli believes his side can overturn the deficit and advance to the final.
“The guys are well aware this wasn’t the performance or the result we wanted, they are disappointed, but they know we still have a chance to turn it around,” Pioli told media outlet Amazon Prime Italia after the match.
Pioli’s comments come across as hopelessly optimistic, but he might have an ace in the hole. Influential forward Rafael Leão hadn’t fully recovered from a thigh injury sustained over the weekend in Serie A and was ruled out for Wednesday’s match. Leão has scored 35 goals in 127 Italian league games over four years with Milan. This season, Leão has 13 goals in 44 appearances across all competitions – no wonder that Milan is close to signing him to a contract extension that’ll tie him to the club until 2028.
Milan’s attack looked flat and uninspired without the Portuguese star leading the line on Wednesday. If Leão can get fit in time for next week’s return match, Milan would certainly be in a better position to look more dangerous going forward and stretch Inter’s defence through the speedy Portuguese international.
Too close to call between Real Madrid and Manchester City
It’s all to play for in next week’s second leg in England after Real Madrid and Manchester City battled to a 1-1 draw at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday.
Vinícius Júnior scored a highlight-reel goal in the 36th minute when Man City was surging. But then when Real Madrid was in the ascendency, Manchester City unexpectedly tied the score through a brilliant strike from Kevin de Bruyne in the 67th minute.
"I don't think anyone goes to the second leg with a mental edge. … The [series] before this game was 50-50. And now, it's still the same,” Real midfielder Luka Modric told Spanish media outlet Movistar Plus.
Tuesday’s affair was a tight contest, with not much separating the teams, and neither was able to take firm control of the game. Instead, there were fluctuations in momentum and both goals came against the run of play.
Tuesday’s tilt was a heavyweight matchup of the highest order between two of the top clubs in the world. Oftentimes, such games don’t live up to the hype. But not in this case.
Real Madrid and Manchester City played some breathless football at the Bernabeu, in between bouts of pragmatism that allowed each side to stay in the game when it appeared things were slipping away from them. Finesse on the ball in possession and brilliant defending in the face of intensive pressure was the order of the day from both teams.
Big question: Can Real shut out Haaland again?
Next week’s return match in Manchester could hinge on one man: Erling Haaland.
Haaland entered Tuesday’s game riding an unbelievable hot streak in Europe this season, having scored 12 of Man City’s 26 goals in the Champions League. But the Norwegian had a quiet evening at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. Haaland had the least number of touches on the ball (21) among all Manchester players (including goalkeeper Ederson, who had 29), and although he had a few decent looks on goal (that he wasted), he didn’t have much of an impact over the proceedings.
Real’s back line did a good job of neutralizing and closing down Haaland when he found himself in dangerous positions. Simply put, the Premier League team has to do a better job of getting him involved in the return match. It’ll be interesting to see if the Spanish outfit can keep a lid on him again next week, or whether the Norwegian can break out against the defending European champions and send Man City through to the finals.
John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 20 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer.
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