For a fleeting moment, you questioned if it might occur once more. With eight minutes remaining between the clubs who have won this competition more than any other, and Real Madrid trailing 3-1, Antonio Rüdiger directed a shot into the net that could have been a clarion call, a rallying cry, madness gripping the stadium once again and ushering in yet another wild finale. However, this time there was no comeback and no epic, only reality. Justice prevailed as well. Rüdiger had been offside, the goal was disallowed, and Milan secured a victory they thoroughly deserved. Goals from Malick Thiaw, the exceptional Tijjani Reijnders, and the Spain captain Álvaro Morata—of course—ensured a victory Milan desperately needed and inflicted Madrid’s first Champions League defeat at home since Chelsea’s 3-2 win in April 2022. Even then, Madrid had come back and progressed, ending the season as one of the most miraculous champions in memory. This time, there was no such luck, no such reaction. No noise, no revival, and no complaint. Not from the players, at least.
On the night Carlo Ancelotti matched Alex Ferguson as the manager with the most games in the European Cup, his sluggish, slow, and supposedly invincible team were outplayed. Milan, apparently struggling, with their own coach on the brink of the abyss, were superb, Christian Pulisic especially, and the night concluded with thousands of their fans singing loudly from high in the north stand. Madrid’s supporters, meanwhile, merely whistled and made their way to the exits. It was not just that they had been beaten; it was how, an indolence about them that irritated the home fans, making the visitors’ job unexpectedly easy. Milan had navigated their way around the Bernabéu pitch with apparent ease, advancing mostly unchallenged through midfield, where Morata dropped in to add an extra man and Reijnders strode through wide spaces. The ball didn’t even need to move especially fast to go from player to player, with white shirts arriving late if they came at all. The two goals that gave them a lead at half-time also expressed that flatness. It had only taken Milan 11 minutes to take the lead. A lovely ball from Morata, struck with the outside of his foot, set Rafael Leão away up the left, beyond Lucas Vázquez, and he won a corner from which Pulisic delivered for Thiaw to head in.
So often it seems that Madrid need something to fight against in order to stir, and their reaction was almost immediate, with Kylian Mbappé drawing a sharp save from Mike Maignan just 19 seconds after the restart. Then, on 10 minutes, Vinícius Júnior was clipped by Emerson Royal, winning a penalty that he dinked gently into the net. Madrid were level, and a moment later Rüdiger wiped out Pulisic, the kind of moment that sometimes gets this place roaring. And yet this was not the revival many imagined. Instead, Milan imposed themselves, three corners in a minute underlining how far, and how easily, they were being allowed to travel. Theo Hernández was the first permitted to run and fire off a shot that was blocked. Andriy Lunin then made an impressive save from Reijnders. Milan were picking their way through the midfield, and when Pulisic led another calmly constructed attack, they got the second. The American found Leão, who turned near the penalty spot to shoot. Lunin saved but there was Morata to score.
It had to be him. He had been whistled, there had been chants of “Morata how bad are you?”—not bad at all—but there was no wild celebration. Instead, he cupped his finger round his lip—silence perhaps or a nod to Movember—and then raised a V in support of Valencia, victim last week of the worst floods to ever hit Spain. Eduardo Camavinga and Brahim Díaz were introduced at half-time and Dani Ceballos would follow not long after, but it didn’t change anything. Not even the atmosphere; there was no roar, no charge, no smell of blood. Instead, it was Milan who scored again. First, Lunin made a brilliant save from Leão’s header after Yunus Musah had flown up the right to cross. Then the superb Pulisic stepped away from Rüdiger and ran into the wide open space before him, a path opening all the way to the Madrid goal; 60, 70 yards he went before finding Leão, who wasted the opportunity. And after Jude Bellingham scuffed one over and Mbappé shot wide, Milan made it three. Again, it was Reijnders who led them up the pitch, the move beginning all the way back with Maignan; again, the challenges, if they could even be called that, were ridden with ease, two men rolled not once but twice. As the ball went to Leão, advancing on the left, the Dutchman continued his run into the area, and steered past Lunin. There was still time for Madrid, they tend not to need much after all, but when Rüdiger was ruled out for offside, the revival, in so far as there ever was one, was over, with Milan’s supporters the ones cheering at the last.
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