Olivier Giroud has scored against virtually all of the big names in Serie A, but a goal against Juventus is missing from his list, which he has the chance to fix tonight.
La Gazzetta dello Sport write how Giroud has accustomed the Rossoneri fans to big goals in big games, but since his arrival in Italy he hasn’t scored against the Bianconeri. The match at the Allianz Stadium tonight offers the opportunity to rectify that, and to potentially seal a top four spot.
Giroud has 16 goals this season across Serie A (11) and the Champions League (5), making him the top scorer overall. His biggest goals remain the brace to spark the comeback in the derby back on 5 February 2022, netting against Lazio and Napoli after that, as well as Roma before.
This season, he netted in the first derby last September and in the quarter-finals of the Champions League against Napoli. Giroud is the ‘oldest’ player (he will turn 37 on 30 September) to have scored at least 10 goals in the top five European leagues.
After his hat-trick against Sampdoria, Giroud is in good form coming into the match tonight. He has played twice against Juve: an hour in a 0-0 draw on 23 January 2022, and a good game in the 2-0 win last October 8.
A few days ago, the Frenchman told BT Sport about his emotions after the knockout in the Euroderby with Inter, describing his Italian career in a positive way.
“If two years ago they had told me that in just 24 months I would have won a Scudetto and made a semi-final of the Champions League, I would have signed immediately without thinking,” he said.
“I’m competitive and losing like this hurts, but we must be proud of what we have done and think about qualifying for next year’s Champions League. We look forward.”
After that disappointment, the match against Juve comes at the right time to break his duck and hopefully secure a third Champions League campaign in a row for Milan.
