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Great Italian club ready for EL group games
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A brain crash in the last minute of extra time.
He saved Milan from a qualifying failure in the Europa League, which advanced to the group stage on the next penalty shoot-out.
– I’ve never experienced something like this, says coach Stefano Pioli.
Earlier today, 20-year-old Norwegian Jens Petter Hauge was ready for the great Italian club.
But neither he, Sweden’s Emil Roback nor Zlatan Ibrahimovic were in Thursday night’s Europa League qualifier against Rio Ave, which was broadcast on Sportbladet.
But despite the absence of “Ibra”, it was Milan who took the lead at the start of the second half. Alexis Saelemaekers downed a ball outside the penalty area and volleyed the guests 1-0.
Decided in the twelfth round of penalties
Every now and then, Milan were just over 40 minutes away from a group stage in the Europa League.
But with less than 20 minutes to go, Chico Geraldes of Rio Aves bombarded the tie and the game went into extra time. A 17-second extension as Gelson smashed through Milan’s defense and sent it 2-1.
Every now and then, probably everyone thought that Rio Ave, in eleventh place in the Portuguese league, would fix the group stage of the Europa League. But no.
In the last minute of extra time, just seconds before the advance, Toni Borevkovic suffered a concussion and hit the ball in the penalty area. The midfielder received his second yellow card and was sent off, while Hakan Calhanoglu was the safety from the penalty spot.
The match was close to being wild at times, and Milan’s Gianluigi Donnarumma received a second yellow card after 84 minutes; your ticket out of the game.
– I’ve never seen anything like it. Penalties are like a lottery, but overall I think we deserved to go ahead, says coach Stefano Pioli according to Milan News.
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Sportbladet – Allsvenskan
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