AC Milan in Champions League semis for first time in 16 years thanks to Mike Maignan master class
The last time AC Milan made it to a Champions League semifinal, the Italian giants faced Sir Alex Freguson's Manchester United. Ferguson's secret weapon? A young, untested 20-something starlet named Cristiano Ronaldo .
It's been 16 long years since that fateful meeting, but finally — finally — Milan are back, thanks to Tuesday's 2-1 aggregate victory over Napoli.
With Napoli running away with the Italian league title, many gave Milan little hope in the two-legged tie. But superb defending, midfield skullduggery and a star-making performance from goalkeeper Mike Maignan lifted the "Rossoneri" over their Italian rivals.
After winning 1-0 in the first leg, Milan played a savvy, defensive lineup for the second, with one clear goal: keep Napoli from scoring any.
They nearly succeeded, with Victor Osimhen's leveler not arriving until the third minute of added time.
For the rest of the match, though, Milan looked to be in complete control. While Napoli dominated possession and took dozens more chances than their rivals, Milan never appeared threatened — it was all part of their plan. The more Napoli committed players forward, the more spaces opened up in their defense...and Milan was all too happy to take advantage of them.
Their breakthrough came in the 43rd minute. Napoli's Tanguy Ndombele lost possession in his own half, and Rafael Leão — one of the fasters runners in the sport — took off with the ball toward Napoli's goal. Leão cleverly drew several defenders, and eventually Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret, over to him on the left flank, before laying off the ball to wide-open Olivier Giroud in the middle.
The goal was Giroud's on paper, in practice, it fully belonged to Leão. His top speed while setting up the assist? A frankly unbelievable 21.8 miles per hour.
Napoli fought hard for the rest of the match, eventually winning a penalty after Fikayo Tomori's unfortunate handball in the box. But Maignan refused to let Napoli through, saving Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's effort with little fuss.
Between that penalty save and the dozens of others he made in both legs, Maignan was undoubtedly Milan's man of the match. He joined the Rossoneri from LOSC Lille in 2021 for just $16.5 million--an absolute steal for someone who has quickly evolved into one of the best active goalkeepers on the planet.
Milan will face either Inter Milan or Benfica in their semifinal. If Inter beat Benfica — which they are expected to do, given their 2-0 advantage from the first leg — it will be the first Milan derby in the Champions League since 2005.
Either way, Milan isn't worried.
"It could be Inter, which would be a nice semifinal, but Benfica are a strong team" Milan's Fikayo Tomori said after the match, per The Guardian's Rob Smyth. "We'll have to wait and see. We're just happy for ourselves to be in the semifinal."
More must-reads: