The Devil in Paradise. Epic feat of the Milan, who conquers the Bernabeu with 3 - 1 destined to go down in history, regardless of how the season goes. Beat the great Real Madrid, moreover at his home, has an enormous meaning and can mark the turning point for Fonseca's team, both in terms of the standings (now direct qualification is no longer a mirage) and morale. A decidedly more ordinary evening instead for the Juventus, which left Lille with a draw (1-1) that was even narrow for the chances created, while it was very bitter for the Bologna, defeated by Monaco (0-1) and now at risk of elimination. This evening it will be the turn of Inter and Atalanta, engaged against Arsenal and Stuttgart (both at 21pm).
Real Madrid – Milan 1-3: Devil in Heaven with Thiaw, Morata and Reijnders
A night destined to remain in history, that of Milan, capable of plundering Madrid with a total performance, both offensively and defensively. Of course, only time will tell if it was an extemporaneous victory or a real turning point, but in the meantime the Rossoneri return home with 3 points that are as surprising as they are important. The scenarios in the Champions League change completely, since now the Devil could even enter the top eight and take the eighth-finals without going through the Caudine Forks of the playoffs: this will depend on the matches with Slovan Bratislava, Red Star, Girona and Dinamo Zagreb, but after a victory like that the fleet is possible, perhaps even necessary. Let's start by saying that Fonseca won first of all, both for the tactical moves (5-3-2 with Musah helping Emerson Royal in containing Vinicius: the key) and for the courage expressed. The system, in fact, must not deceive, since Milan did not limit themselves to defending, indeed they attacked Real for at least an hour and moved the inevitable suffering only to the final minutes. Thiaw's goal at the start of the match (12') explained the bellicose intentions expressed on the eve, which remained the same even after Vinicius' equaliser from a penalty (23', foul by Emerson Royal).
In the 39th minute the Rossoneri regained the lead with Morata and in the second half, before Reijnders' goal (39'), they had already become very dangerous with Leao, blocked only by a great intervention by Lunin. The Portuguese was a factor just like Theo Hernandez, for a left wing that has returned to the levels of the past, but everyone deserves praise: Musah, very good both at protecting the defence and supporting the attack, Reijnders, increasingly the emblem of the box to box midfielder, Tomori, Thiaw and Maignan, solid and effective as in the best nights (also thanks to the general balance). The end, as always at the Bernabeu, was marked by the siege, but this time, with the exception of the goal disallowed to Rudiger (active offside by Rodrygo), there was no comeback, only a beautiful victory for Milan destined to remain in the annals.
Fonseca: “It was a victory of courage, given that Italian women don’t just know how to defend themselves?!”
“We won because the players had courage, we came here without fear of anything, just wanting to play our game – the enthusiastic comment of Fonseca -. We prepared the match to have the ball at our feet, in the first half we did important things, in the second half there was a little more suffering, but we suffered together and the victory is deserved. We showed Europe that Italian teams do not only know how to defend, I have never agreed when people said this. We had the patience to hold the ball and let it pass. to then wait for the right moment to attack, now we have to continue to grow because there is still a lot of margin. European games are completely different from Serie A games, many people who live abroad do not know how difficult it is to play against teams in the Italian league, it is more complicated to play against Monza or Cagliari than against Real. Then obviously Madrid is perhaps the strongest team in the world, but it is not possible to play the same type of games against opponents who defend man to man”.
Ancelotti: “We were too fragile, we have to start from the basics”
“There was no reaction to the match against Barca, we often appeared unbalanced without managing to recover the ball – Ancelotti's bitter analysis -. We must be worried because the team is not giving its best. We need to start from the basics because the games can get complicated at any moment, sometimes recoveries, other times not. In one-on-ones Milan showed their potential, but we were fragile, not very effective. The lack of defensive structure that is the basis of the game of football is evident, we need to start from there to make a change”.
Lille – Juventus 1-1: Vlahovic responds to David, Bianconeri in the playoff zone
A decidedly less epic night for the Juventus, leaving Lille with a point that is too tight for them, but which all in all "makes the rankings". The black and whites, in light of the chances created (especially up to 1-1), probably deserved to win, instead they even feared going home empty-handed. After a couple of dangerous situations created by Vlahovic, in fact, it was the French who took the lead first, taking advantage of one of the rare open-field opportunities granted by the Old Lady: on these, as we know, Lille has a master like Jonathan David (a target for the Bianconeri, given that his contract expires in June 2025), who certainly didn't need to be asked twice and scored the 1-0 goal (27'). Juve's reaction, designed by Thiago Motta with a 4-2-3-1 with Yildiz, Koopmeiners and Conceiçao behind Vlahovic, it certainly didn't take long to materialize and materialized in the second half, after two goals to the former Atalanta player had been disallowed in the first half (offside in both cases), in addition to Chevalier's miracle on the Serbian center forward. In the 60th minute André brought down Conceiçao in the area and the referee awarded a penalty that was coolly converted by Vlahovic, his third goal in four Champions League games. Many thought it was a remake of Leipzig, but this time Juve "settled" for a draw, which was all in all positive in terms of qualification.
Thiago Motta: “Happy with the performance, not the result”
“I'm happy with the performance, but not with the result because, even though we tried, we weren't able to bring home what we wanted – he underlined Thiago Motta -. In the offensive phase we should have done better in the last twenty meters, however in the second half we managed to improve the quality of the game. We found a confident team, that was waiting for us from the beginning to start again. So it was fundamental to stop them and exploit the outside players to put them in difficulty. In the second half we managed to raise the center of gravity and allow players like Yildiz and Conceiçao to exploit their skills. I am happy with the reading of the boys on the field and the game we played, but now we need to recover: the next game is the derby and it is an important challenge”.
Inter – Arsenal (21pm, Prime Video)
The spotlights move thus on San Siro, theater of a Inter-Arsenal to be experienced. The challenge promises to be a spectacle, but there are many variations that could make it more blocked than expected. Let's start with the Gunners, struggling with one of the most difficult moments of the Arteta era, as seen in Saturday's defeat at Newcastle, which culminated with the resignation of sporting director Edu. The English had started out to win the Premier League, but instead they slipped to fifth place together with Chelsea and Aston Villa, 7 points behind Liverpool and 5 points behind Manchester City. Nothing irreparable, of course, but the second KO in the last three league games (the other was at Bournemouth) has at least set off an alarm bell. Arsenal are paying for captain Odegaard's injuries (but tonight he will be on the bench) and Calafiori (he will also miss the national team), as well as the failure of Martinelli and Saka, the only ones (along with the Norwegian) to guarantee a change of pace. In the Champions League things are going better, in light of the 7 points collected in three games (draw with Atalanta and victories with PSG and Shakhtar) that are worth the top positions, but it is clear that the match with Inter will be rather indicative. The Nerazzurri also totaled the same score and want to exploit the inertia of San Siro to break away and take off, aware that a victory would contribute to lengthening the standings. Of course, to beat the Gunners it will take much more than what was shown on Sunday with Venezia, furthermore it is good to train the intensity in view of the direct clash against Napoli, considered a priority by the entire environment. The new Champions League, after all, allows you to manage your forces better, even if directing it now would bring a nice advantage in a couple of months.
Inzaghi: "We are not thinking about Napoli, but Arsenal: they are among the favorites for the Champions League"
“We are facing one of the best opponents in Europe, very recognisable and with a great coach – the thought of Inzaghi -. If you see Arsenal among a hundred teams, without knowing the name, you recognize it: after all, it played the last two English titles point by point with Manchester City... I'm not thinking of Napoli, Arsenal is our priority, they are one of the strongest in Europe, among the favorites to win together with Real, City and Bayern. What are we missing to return to last year's form? We know where we are working well and where we need to improve, let's not forget that we have had 7 wins and a draw in the last 8. Then there are always the opponents... I congratulated the lads for the match against Venezia, they were excellent: we didn't concede almost anything, the only flaw was not having closed it out because with the chances we had we shouldn't have been 1-0 up in the 90th minute. Now we have two very difficult matches ahead of us, let's think one at a time and try to put in two great performances. Turnover in view of Sunday? We coaches have to make many choices, but at the moment Napoli is not in my thoughts, my mind is only on Arsenal".
Inter (3-5-2): Summer; Pavard, De Vrij, Bisseck; Dumfries, Zielinski, Calhanoglu, Frattesi, Darmian; Taremi, Lautaro
On the bench: Martinez, Di Gennaro, Bastoni, Acerbi, Dimarco, Barella, Buchanan, Berenbruch, Mkhitaryan, Aidoo, Arnautovic, Thuram
Coach: Inzaghi
Unavailable: Carlos Augusto, Correa (not in the list), Palacios (not in the list)
Disqualified: none
Arsenal (4-4-2): Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Saka, Merino, Partey, Martinelli; Havertz, Gabriel Jesus
On the bench: Neto, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Sterling, Rice, Trossard, Jorginho, Nwaneri, Lewis-Skelly, Heaven, Kukurri, Kabia, Odegaard
Coach: Arteta
Unavailable: Tomiyasu, Tierney, Calafiori
Disqualified: none
