MILAN: Inter Milan players celebrate with the trophy after clinching the Serie A title at the end of their match against Udinese at the San Siro. AP
MILAN: Seven-time European champions AC Milan are back in the Champions League after an eight-year break. And Juventus also narrowly qualified on the final night of Serie A on Sunday.
Two penalties from Franck Kessie helped Milan to a 2-0 win at Atalanta, who had already claimed a top-four spot along with Serie A champions Inter Milan.
“We deserved the Champions League as well as second place,” said Milan coach Stefano Pioli whose side had missed the chance to seal their berth last weekend against Cagliari. “We went through the whole championship at the top, unfortunately we had thrown away the match point last Sunday. I’m really excited, happy, I have to thank the club because they made us work in a spectacular way.”
May 24, 2021 Share
MILAN Seven-time European champion AC Milan is back in the Champions League after an eight-year break. And Juventus also narrowly qualified on the final night of Serie A on Sunday.
Two penalties from Franck Kessie helped Milan to a 2-0 win at Atalanta, which had already claimed a top-four spot along with Serie A champion Inter Milan.
“We showed that we deserved second place,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli said. “We were near the top all season.”
Juventus won 4-1 at Bologna with two goals from Alvaro Morata plus scores from Federico Chiesa and Adrien Rabiot.
Still, Juventus needed help and got it when Hellas Verona held Napoli to a 1-1 draw, leaving Napoli in fifth place.
May 25, 2021
MILAN (AP) Seven-time European champion AC Milan is back in the Champions League after an eight-year break.
And Juventus also narrowly qualified on the final night of Serie A on Sunday.
Two penalties from Franck Kessie helped Milan to a 2-0 win at Atalanta, which had already claimed a top-four spot along with Serie A champion Inter Milan.
“We showed that we deserved second place,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli said. “We were near the top all season.”
Juventus won 4-1 at Bologna with two goals from Alvaro Morata plus scores from Federico Chiesa and Adrien Rabiot.
Still, Juventus needed help and got it when Hellas Verona held Napoli to a 1-1 draw, leaving Napoli in fifth place.
Djidji put the Pythagoreans in front in the 40th minute after a fine combination with Lisandro Magallan.
His strike was, however, short-lived as Spezia fought back after the restart of the second half when Daniele Verde levelled proceedings in the 63rd minute after he was set up by Riccardo Marchizza.
Simy then gave Crotone the lead in the 78th minute of the encounter after a superb combination with Niccolo Zanellato.
Vincenzo Italiano continued to push for yet another equalizer and got it in the 89th minute when Giulio Maggiore fired home his effort following an assist from Martin Erlic.
With the game looking to end with a share of the points, Erlic scored the match-winning goal with an individual effort.
“I haven’t spoken to Maresca and I don’t know his version. The last thing Ibra said was ‘so you’re not interested in what I’m saying.’ It’s obvious that the match changed after his sending off but my team managed to fill the gap with a lot of will and determination.”
Milan is in a tight fight for second place with Juventus and Atalanta. Both play on Sunday.
In Parma, Milan got off to a perfect start as Ibrahimović sent a throughball to Ante Rebić, who gathered with his back to goal, spun round and fired powerfully into the top right corner.