Francesco Acerbi did a great job of keeping Olivier Giroud quiet in the first leg of the semi-final clash between Inter and AC Milan, which he will hope to repeat tonight.
Today’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (as seen below) recall how Giroud has had a habit of beating whoever he faces in the Milan derby, from Milan Skriniar to Stefan De Vrij, but the Inter ran to the ‘discount store’ and found what they were looking for.
Acerbi cost just €4m and yet he has been the man who so far has limited the influence of the Frenchman to almost zero. After three derbies played in 2023, he has got the better of Giroud on three occasions.
Back on February 5 – the same date and setting as the 2022 derby when he scored twice and won the game – Giroud slapped Acerbi in the face trying to free himself from his marking, earning a yellow card.
Acerbi is 36 years old and Giroud is 35, which makes this particular battle within the Euroderby a duel of experience. At the moment, it presents a centre-forward who hasn’t scored in a month against a centre-back who has played all but one game as a starter.
Acerbi was a Milan supporter growing up, he played for the Rossoneri just over 10 years ago, and now he wants to stop them from celebrating what would be an incredible comeback success.
