AC Milan beat Stade Rennais 3-0 last night in front of the eyes of Gerry Cardinale and a big San Siro crowd, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek proving to be the man for the big occasion again.
As Tuttosport (via MilanNews) reports this morning, the three-goal lead effectively secures Milan’s passage to the round of 16 of the Europa League but of course attention will be needed for the return leg in a week.
The great protagonist of the evening was undoubtedly Loftus-Cheek, who scored a brace of headers. The Englishman knows well how to win the Europa League given that he did it in 2019 with Chelsea (Olivier Giroud was also in the team with him).
Yesterday the former Blues player made the difference with his physicality, splitting the Rennes defence in two with his runs and his ball carrying.
As mentioned, both goals came from headers: the first from a perfect cross from the right by Alessandro Florenzi, the second from a corner where he reacted fastest to bury the rebound after Mandanda parried.
After the match, the Englishman was quite clear about Milan’s objective between now and the end of the season in his post-match interview.
“We have the qualities to win the trophy , but we have to think from game to game, so now let’s focus on the return leg, we have a good advantage, but the mission is not accomplished yet,” he said.
“I enjoyed myself, but I always try to do so because I like playing at San Siro and in Europe. This season I feel good, I’m playing a lot and in different roles, but always close to the area so I can score assists or goals.
“What if I can exceed 10 goals like Pioli said in the summer? I don’t think it’s important to think about the total number of goals in a season, but to think about scoring them from game to game.”
