AC Milan’s hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout stages were all but ended on Tuesday night at San Siro as they lost 3-1 to Borussia Dortmund.
After Olivier Giroud missed an early penalty Marco Reus made no mistake when Dortmund were given one of their own, but Samuel Chukwueze got his first goal since signing for Milan to make it 1-1 going into the break.
Malick Thiaw’s injury forced Rade Krunic to come on at centre-back and that appeared to be a big turning point in the game as Jamie Bynoe-Gittens put the away side 2-1 up and then Karim Adeyemi scored 10 minutes later to make sure of the points.
The result means that Milan now have to win at Newcastle United in the final round of the group while Dortmund must avoid defeat against Paris Saint-Germain to go through.
Stefano Pioli decided to make three changes to his starting line-up compared to the Fiorentina game as Yacine Adli, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Olivier Giroud all came into the side.
It was Giroud who had the chance to add to his tally for the season inside six minutes when a shot from Samuel Chukwueze was blocked by the outstretched arm of Schlotterbeck. However, Kobel guessed the right way as the Frenchman’s curled effort towards the bottom left corner was parried away.
Moments later up at the other end, Dortmund got a chance of their own from 12 yards. Bynoe-Gittens made a darting run to the left side of the box and Davide Calabria clipped him down with a spot kick being the right decision, and Marco Reus despatched it emphatically to win the battle of the veteran penalty takers.
Bynoe-Gittens continued to cause issues down Calabria’s side, this time cutting in past the full-back onto his right foot and unleashing a fierce shot that skimmed the crossbar and went over.
The game continued in an open fashion and there were a couple of half-chances at the midway point of the first half. The first came when Christian Pulisic shot from a central area and drew a comfortable save from Kobel, and then Mike Maignan did well to shot a ball across goal from Malen.
Dortmund continued to demonstrate their threat on the counter after taking the lead, with Christian Pulisic making an excellent block to deny Ryerson’s attempt after a cross found its way to him on the far side of the area.
In the 38th minute, Milan got themselves back on level terms in what was a perfect time for Chukwueze to get his first goal for the club. It looked like the Nigerian had been successfully jockeyed to the byline by two defenders, yet he cut between them both onto his favoured right foot and curled a perfect shot inside the far post through traffic.
Milan started the second half on top buoyed by a raucous sell-out home crowd, and Pulisic attempted to channel the acrobatics of Leao with a volley at the far post that was crucially blocked.
Having come into the game in a defensive emergency, disaster struck in the 50th minute when Thiaw made a tackle while backtracking and pulled up clutching his hamstring. He could not continue, so Rade Krunic came on leaving question marks about who would slot in.
Dortmund got themselves back in front just before the hour mark as the dangerous Bynoe-Gittens got his name on the scoresheet. A move that start on the right flank went through Sabitzer in the middle and found the teenage winger on the far side, who swept a first-time shot inside the near post bast a diving Maignan.
The Rossoneri went in search of a goal to keep their hopes alive, and Giroud was the first player to get on the end of any of the eight home corners in the 68th minute but headed straight at Kobel.
However, at the other end Dortmund would get the third goal that effectively killed the contest. The substitute Adeyemi cut inside and unleashed a low shot that seemed to wrongfoot Maignan despite going down the middle of the goal and though he got a hand to it the ball bounced over the line by half a yard, evading the Frenchman’s desperate clawing save.
Right after Giroud went down just outside the edge of the box, Pioli made a double change with Chaka Traore and Luka Jovic coming on for Chukwueze and Giroud.
Milan had a couple of chances with headers to make it an interesting finish; the first was Tomori glancing a corner over and the second saw Jovic rattle the post after a fantastic cross by Calabria.
Füllkrug hit the bar with an unmarked shot from inside the box, then Jovic had a close-range attempt saved in added time as the final minutes were played out.
