Milan crashed out of the Champions League play-offs 2-1 on aggregate, as after the perfect Santiago Gimenez start, Theo Hernandez was sent off for simulation in a 1-1 draw with Feyenoord.
The first leg ended 1-0 last week, sealed by Mike Maignan’s howler letting the Igor Paixao effort squirm through him. It was the first and until now only time the Fab Four had been used together, but Sergio Conceicao repeated the experiment and made the team even more attacking with Yunus Musah – who was suspended for the first leg – preferred to Youssouf Fofana. Emerson Royal, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Alessandro Florenzi were injured, with Alex Jimenez and Luka Jovic cup-tied. The visitors missed Quinten Timber, Ayase Ueda, Gernot Trauner, In-beom Hwang, Ramiz Zerrouki, Bart Nieuwkoop, Jordan Lotomba, Justin Bijlow and Chris-Kevin Nadje, so gave 18-year-old Zepiqueno Redmond his Champions League debut.
See how it all unfolded on the Liveblog.
It was the perfect start, as in the opening minute Malick Thiaw nodded a Christian Pulisic cross from the Theo Hernandez short corner back across the face of goal for Santiago Gimenez to head in from point-blank range. The Mexico international did not celebrate against his former club, holding up his hands.
Less than 40 seconds on the board 🔥
Santiago Gimenez opens the scoring for Milan
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Joao Felix sprung the offside trap on a smart Gimenez pass and controlled well only to fire inches over the bar, then the Portuguese talent stung the goalkeeper’s gloves only for Theo Hernandez to fire the rebound onto the upright.
Rafael Leao’s first touch let him down when sent clear and David Hancko charged down a Gimenez effort from close range.
There was a double opportunity at the dawn of the second half with first Hancko’s desperate block to stop Joao Felix tapping in the Theo Hernandez pull-back, then Kyle Walker’s angled drive testing the goalkeeper.
However, the tie changed when Theo Hernandez ran onto a Leao pass and went down as Givairo Read dived in with an outstretched leg. There was no contact and the referee judged it to be sufficient for a second yellow card as simulation, having been booked just before the break for a pointless foul on Anis Hadj Moussa.
Theo Hernandez sees a second yellow and is sent off for simulation 🟥
Milan are down to 10-men 😳
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Feyenoord started pouring forward to take advantage, Antoni Milambo nodding over the bar, and Sergio Conceicao introduced Fofana, moving Joao Felix to a False 9.
The Dutch side restored their lead on aggregate when Hugo Bueno’s cross from the left found substitute Julian Carranza for a towering header between the Milan defenders from six yards.
Pinpoint precision 🎯
Feyenoord re-take the aggregate lead through substitute Julian Carranza after a brilliant cross 🙌
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Thiaw nodded a Joao Felix free kick straight at the goalkeeper and Kyle Walker played the last six minutes with an adductor issue as all the substitutions had been completed.
The Rossoneri kept pushing, but Thiaw had a double attempt charged down in stoppages from the Joao Felix free kick.
Milan 1-1 Feyenoord (1-2)
Gimenez 1 (M), Carranza 73 (F)
Sent off: Theo Hernandez 51 (M)
Player statistic
| Santiago Giménez (Assist: Malick Thiaw) |
 |
1' | ||
| 22' |  |
Jakub Moder | ||
| Theo Hernández | |
44' |
| Theo Hernández |  |
51' | ||
| 73' | |
Julián Carranza (Assist: Hugo Bueno) | ||
| João Félix | |
76' | ||
| Rafael Leão | |
90+7' | ||
| 90+3' | |
Jeyland Mitchell | ||
| 90+7' |  |
Givairo Read |
Match statistic
individual mistakes and no composure. same old story. that Feyenoord side were one of the weakest milan have ever played in europe. but thanks to maignan, Theo and the pasteis di nato’s shambolic subs, milan did everything to make them relevant.
Hahhhhhhhhhhhhh finally something good!
Hernandez must never play for Milan again, get rid now. It was obvious he was going to get sent off the way he went about tonights game with his attitude. Accident waiting to happen, he has cost Milan dear in a match they were controlling.
I guess no cigars tonight lol
Refs absolutely want Italian teams out of Italy. Awful penalty against Atalanta and the first time any simulation yellow for a player with a yellow. Ridiculous.
Our opponents had been non-existent before Theo went maddd. What happened in his head? In this VAR era, why did he dive, what for??? Was there any match-fixing scheme here, Theo? Whyyyyy did you do that, Theooooo?!!!!!!
Perhaps Theo should pay more attention to his playing form than his hair color. I agree with Napoli 1, he needs to go. To put his team a man down in a must win game, terrible decision making, which was made worse by his “what did I do?” facade.
The Milan CL DNA we often hear about is a distant memory now. It’s almost 20 years since they have been truly relevant in Europe. And so it continues, with defeat against a team they’d have been happy to been drawn against.
Milan was nothing tonight.
I do not understand why managers take off their goal scorers. Gasperini does this a lot in games that are far from won and he invariably loses the game.
Surely taking Gimenez off was unwise in a game Milan was drawing on aggregate and then to really provoke me, they throw on their centre back in a centre forward position to try and get them a goal.
I’ve seen this Polish ref a few times and he does seem to have an agenda. Not my fave referee and no I have never seen a ref give a second yellow that early for simulation.
Not that I’m excusing Theo and countless footballers nowadays that go down at every opportunity, it’s so pathetic to watch.
Theo hacks inside Italy and should get carded every game, but Italian referees love Milan so they ignore his dirty play.