In the early morning of February 19 (Vietnam time), AC Milan hosted Feyenoord in the second leg of the Champions League play-off round at San Siro.
After falling behind in the first leg with a fragile gap of 0-1, Rossoneri had a dream start when opening the score after only 36 seconds thanks to a header from striker Santiago Gimenez.
AC Milan continued to push up their formation and had a few good chances from Joao Felix and Gimenez, but could not take the lead in the first half.
On the other side, the Dutch club fielded their youngest starting lineup ever in a Champions League match, with an average age of just 23 years and 258 days. However, they still played with confidence and determination.
At the beginning of the second half, a turning point occurred when Theo Hernandez received a second yellow card for a foul on the opponent. With only 10 players left on the pitch, coach Sergio Conceicao decided to take Christian Pulisic off to make way for full-back Davide Bartesaghi, in order to have stable defense.
But they could only hold on until the 73rd minute, before Julian Carranza headed the ball in from Hugo Bueno's pass. It was the away team's only shot on target in the entire match. While the Rossoneri had 18 shots, three times as many as their opponents, they could not convert their chances.
After the match, players from both sides got into a fight, causing Feyenoord's Givairo Read and Milan's Rafael Leao to receive red cards. But anyway, with a total score of 2-1, coach Pascal Bosschaart and his team have secured a ticket to the round of 16 for the first time in the Champions League era.
For AC Milan, this was a very disappointing result. According to Italian media, coach Sergio Conceicao's seat is under threat even though he was only appointed in December 2024 to replace Paulo Fonseca. After the defeat in the European Cup, Conceicao's position is no longer safe.
