The Italian media highlight AC Milan’s’regret’ when Newcastle United rocked the group of death with……

Newcastle United now sit top of Group F in the Champions League after their fantastic 4-1 win over Paris Saint-Germain last night, with the Magpies causing Italian media to highlight some ‘regret’ in the AC Milan camp. Eddie Howe’s men settled for a goalless draw against the Serie A side during their trip to the San Siro in what was the first game on European football’s biggest stage in over 20 years but have now staked their claim to be the first from the ‘Group of Death’ to make the knockout stages.

Miguel Almiron’s opener came after just 16 minutes when Bruno Guimaraes’ interception fell to Alexander Isak, whose volley was parried by Gianluigi Donnarumma into the path of the Paraguayan winger who nestled the ball across goal and into the far corner to hand Newcastle the lead.

Left-back Dan Burn made it 2-0 when his header made it over the line before being clawed out by Donnarumma. It went to a long VAR check in order to ensure Guimaraes hadn’t strayed offside in the build-up but was eventually confirmed to the delight of St. James’ Park.

Sean Longstaff then made it 3-0 just five minutes after the break as him and Kieran Trippier linked up before he fired in a low effort across goal to beat the PSG goalkeeper. Lucas Hernandez tried to inspire a comeback with a header of his own but Fabian Schar’s wondergoal in added time sealed off any hope of a late charge by the Ligue 1 champions.

Now according to Italian outlet CalcioMercato, Milan manager Stefano Pioli will now be ‘regretting’ the fact his side couldn’t take their chances in their opening match against Howe’s side. The Serie A side had 25 shots on goal with nine of those on target to just the six total shots from the English side, who only managed one on target.

It was another similar story against the fourth team in the group Borussia Dortmund last night, as they created 14 shots in total but still failed to find the back of the net. That’s despite their fantastic start to life in the domestic league where they sit joint-top of the league with Inter having scored 15 goals across their first seven matches.

CalcioMercato also argue that the failure to go out and get an established, experienced striker in the prime of his career has killed any hope of AC Milan making a deep run in the competition, simply because they’re unable to rely on 37-year-old Olivier Giroud to consistently play the full 90 minutes twice a week, noting that their ‘path to European glory is at this point quite complicated’.

They admit that while the defence has held up well, coping with the versatile and relentless attacking nature of Newcastle’s play that cut open PSG, the ‘zero goals in the goals conceded box is equivalent to the goals scored’ and that ‘something more is needed’.

Excited to follow Newcastle United in Europe? There’s now a way you can get Champions League news, travel tips and video sent straight to your device. By joining the community on WhatsApp, you’ll be at the heart of the Magpies’ European journey from wherever you’re watching.

It’s quick and easy to join. Just click this link and select ‘Join Community’ to get started.

No one else in the community will be able to see your personal information and you will only receive messages from the Chronicle Live sports team. We will not spam your WhatsApp feed with constant messages, but you will receive updates from us daily.

We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.

If for some reason you decide you no longer want to be in our community, you can leave by clicking on the name at the top of your screen and clicking ‘Exit Group’. You can read our Privacy Notice here.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*