On Thursday AC Milan faced Celtic in a Europa League group stage match. If Milan won this match and Lille won their match against Sparta Prague then Milan would go through to the next round of the competition. Milan lined up with a similar starting eleven to the one that faced Lille the week before. For the first five minutes Milan looked great then came the mistakes and big ones to say the least. Just seven minutes in Rade Krunic was stripped inside the box and Celtic took advantage scoring just seconds later. Celtic continued to pressure Milan and in the 13th minute they broke down the Milan defence to double their lead. However Milan has a new mentality and they would not give up. In 23rd minute they won a free kick and capitalized on their opportunity with Hakan Calhanoglu launching it in the net. Two minutes after that Milan scored again with Theo Hernandez crossing it inside the box and finding Samu Castillejo who scored to tie the match. After an exhilarating 45 minutes the match was tied up at two.
We had to fight back, but what a fight back it was! ❤️
— AC Milan (@acmilan) December 3, 2020
Dopo una falsa partenza, reazione fantastica dei ragazzi! ❤️ #MilanCeltic #SempreMilan#UEL pic.twitter.com/81y7RPJR1p
Milan got off to a hot start in the second half as they took the lead in just four minutes, off a beautiful individual effort from Jans Petter Hauge. After Milan took the lead they looked like the more dominate side in the match. Aside from maybe one or two chances from Celtic, Milan had the overwhelming advantage in the second half. Any chance that Celtic had was either taken away by the defence or saved by the great Gigio Donnarumma. Late in the match it was Hauge again who had a brilliant individual effort but this time it was an assist to Brahim Diaz who had a nice chip finish. Once the 90 minutes were up Milan got their victory and qualification to the next round of the Europa League.
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STARTING LINE-UP
Gianluigi Donnarumma: Gigio is a world class player and he shows that every match now. Pay the man whatever he wants. 7/10
Diogo Dalot: Another match where Dalot was good but not spectacular. Dalot seems to be a nice backup right back for now. He is fairly solid defensively and although he didn't show much of it in this match his crosses are pin point. 6.5/10
Another fat dub and a spot booked into the #UEL knockout stages for Milan! ⚫️ pic.twitter.com/ZZvXTGrzwd
— Matt Santangelo (@Matt_Santangelo) December 3, 2020
Simon Kjaer: Kjaer left the match early with what seems to be a hamstring issue and the goal conceded by Milan was nowhere near his fault. 6/10
Matteo Gabbia: Another start for Gabbia leads to another good performance. Against Celtic Gabbia was solid in partnership with Romagnoli. I was doubtful about the lack of pace with both of them on the pitch but they proved me wrong. 6.5/10
Theo Hernandez: Theo played another good match and since international break he has looked more like his old self. His runs going forward really helped push the pace for Milan and caught Celtic out of position. Only downside is that eventually we are going to need to rest him. 6.7/10
Coach Pioli reflected on tonight's come-back win speaking to @MilanTV ️
— AC Milan (@acmilan) December 3, 2020
Watch all the post-match reactions on the app https://t.co/k2zluita95#MilanCeltic #UEL #SempreMilan pic.twitter.com/OuMWj8ZxKI
Rade Krunic: So for weeks now I've been saying that Krunic shouldn't be playing in attacking me but more as a defensive mid. Well, I was wrong Krunic can't play there either. Krunic isn't a bad player but I don't think he fits in the formation that we play. 5/10
Franck Kessie: It seemed as if Franck didn't go as non stop as he usually does but he still put in a nice performance. His calmness on the ball is surely something Milan lacked in the beginning of the match. Also some of his cross field passes were superb. 6.5/10
Samu Castillejo: This was probably Samu’s best performance in a long time. However most of his positives came on the defensive end. Offensively he should have probably had a hat trick but could only capitalize on one of his chances. 6/10
Hakan Calhanoglu: The performance of Hakan mirrored the performance of Milan as a whole. At the start they were poor but after the Hakan free kick the team and Hakan turned it up a notch. 6.7/10
Jens Petter Hauge with the third for #ACMilan, and a beauty it was!
— The Milan Brothers (@ACMilanBros) December 3, 2020
The Norwegian has put the Rossoneri ahead after trailing 2-0.
Dynamite goal! pic.twitter.com/x8PogRWdg1
Jans Petter Hauge: Absolutely great match for the Norwegian phenom. He provided a goal and then an assist to put the match away for Milan. Yes, he was a bit lucky with his dribbling to get his second assist but overall impressed me and maybe everyone else on Milan Twitter. 7/10
Ante Rebic: Now, I don't blame Rebic for almost being invisible up front because that isn't his preferred position. I will say though that the pressing of Rebic is great and vital to the team winning the ball back. 6/10
SUBSTITUTES
Alessio Romagnoli: Romagnoli came on in such short notice but put in a very good performance. His good performances are starting to stack up and this could be turning the tide for him personally. 6.5/10
Sandro Tonali: Sandro was a massive upgrade over Krunic in this match. Sandro didn't do anything exceptional but was still overall positive. Like Romagnoli his good performances should stack up and he should get better as the season goes on. 6/10
Ismael Bennacer: Once he came he absolutely bossed the midfield no questions asked. He controlled the game and was the driver of the Milan team. 6.5/10
Brahim Diaz: This was the best Brahim has looked in a couple of matches. He didn't hold on to the ball too long and wasn't shoved off the ball easily. He even chipped in with a nice goal to put the game away. 6.4/10
Brahim Diaz and Jens Petter Hauge ⚫️ pic.twitter.com/Kgb6KI4jXp
— Milan Reports (@MilanReports) December 3, 2020
Lorenzo Colombo: N/A But I do wish he got more minutes.