AC Milan take on Paris Saint-Germain in the French capital tonight, and it is hard to imagine a game with so many sub-plots.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) talks about the clash that will take place tonight in the city of the Eiffel Tower and above all romance, and there are plenty of romantic storylines shared between the sides.
Gianluigi Donnarumma and Mike Maignan will face each other. The former came through the academy at Milan and made his debut aged 17, but would leave for Paris after 251 games for the Rossoneri, while Maignan – like Yacine Adli – was in the PSG youth system before leaving for Lille.
It will also be a first for Theo and Lucas Hernandez: the brothers grew up together at Atletico Madrid but their careers soon took different paths. They came close to facing each other in Madrid (when Theo was at Real) but never did, so tonight will be a debut derby between the brothers.
The other ‘derby’ for Theo will be contested with Achraf Hakimi who should start at right-back for PSG. The pair were team-mates at Real Madrid, but opponents in the Milan-Inter derbies of the past.
Rafael Leao and Milan Skriniar will also renew hostilities after they faced each other in the Derby della Madonnina. In the Rossoneri’s 3-2 win against Inter back in September 2022 – perhaps his best match – Rafa toyed with the Slovakian and scored twice.
The image of Leao smiling as he shot the ball for his brace, with Skriniar appearing helplessly behind him, has become iconic, but Skriniar chose to try a new adventure in Paris instead.
Then there is Olivier Giroud, someone who with Montpellier 11 years ago took the Ligue 1 title away from the first PSG side under Al-Khelaïfi, and who will now challenge his national team heir Randal Kolo Muani.
