AC Milan have an advantage going into the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie against Napoli, but La Gazzetta dello Sport believes they can dream bigger.
The paper (via PianetaMilan) talks about the chances of an Italian side winning the Champions League given Milan, Napoli and Inter are all present. While Serie A starts as an outsider given Manchester City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are on the other side, a spot in the final isn’t too much to dream of.
Why can Milan dream? They have Rafael Leao and Brahim Diaz as players who can change the course of a match, but limit for the Rossoneri is the bench as Pioli can count on 12-13 players and not much depth.
A deputy for Olivier Giroud is missing among some other pieces, but Milan compensate for this with a very strong starting XI, an international style of play and with their history of playing the Champions League which gives more confidence.
An example of this was Wednesday night, as Napoli are 22 points ahead in the league but that evaporated as the Diavolo won 1-0 after having won 4-0 earlier in the month. Milan have won the trophy seven times – second only to Real – and key figures like Paolo Maldini knows what it takes to win.
I think Milan may well get to Istanbul. But frankly, I dread to think what will happen in the final vs. Real or Man City…..
We don’t stand a chance against both
We don’t stand a chance against both of them
“We don’t stand a chance against both of them”
Well… It’s good we’d only need to face one of them and not both.
It’s a one-legged match where anything can happen. Weirder things have happened too.
Whatever could happen in the final I’d just want us to make it there even if the odds are completely against us. The financial revenues when reaching the final is already massive so it would even really help us this summer no matter what happens but for now let’s focus on finishing the task at hand which is left to be done in Naples 🔴⚫
I agree with this. Just reaching the final is a statement of intent.
I was happy about us drawing napoli as the opposition and when i pointed that out some people was of the view that we would get hammered which at least up un till now hasnt happened. I was glad we didnt draw city or madrid early on but we might still be able to beat them in the event we reach the final. Madrid has proven time after time they can win the cl even when they isnt favoured to do so. We have great knowedlge of ancelotti and vice versa but it would be a tough pill to swallow losing to him.
City on the other hand might get distracted that it would be their first win ever so maybe theres some room there,
In the end though we could deffently also end up getting humuiliated by both teams and especially if some of our most important players gets injured or suspended.
Either way i’ll even take a defeat in a cl final just as a sign of our improvement and the cash that follows.
Just remember the Milan side in the final in 2005. It was stacked and Liverpool was massively inferior but they pulled of the biggest fluke in history. If that crap Liverpool team can beat one of the most staked teams in history, I’m sure this decent Milan team can do something against anyone. Ps don’t forget the great Milan team that lost the final in 1993, that was the greatest squad in history but still unluckily lost in final
It wasn’t bad luck the French cheated
Napoli have to be one of the most overhyped teams ever. I was happy when we drew them and it’s proven right so far. We can beat Inter in the semi and then it’s anyone’s guess what happens in the final. If you think City and Real are invincible you need your head checked.
In one 90 minute game, anything can happen. This is why we love sport.
They’re having a great season but definitely over hyped to the moon. It’s amazing how almost everyone thought that our title win last season was lucky, even though we’d placed second the season before. But you won’t hear those same folks saying that Napoli was lucky, even though what we’re witnessing is an anomaly. Strange!
I expect us to win the champions league, regardless of who we face. It’s that simple. And if we don’t, then I’ll be truly disappointed. This is a wonderful opportunity that we must seize. It’ll be the ultimate proof of the team’s continued growth. We’ve already surrendered the title to Napoli, while finding ourselves in a dogfight for a top four finish, which all points to a backward step. So that’s why this is so important to us and the entire Milan project. I don’t know who will be our opponents in the finals but I know that we’re a better team than Mallorca, Freiburg and Brentford, so we’ll definitely be in with a shout.