AC Milan are branded ‘TOOTHLESS’ as Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen attribute their one-sided defeat at Inter to a lack of killer instinct… while Steven Gerrard claims Brahim Diaz missed a ‘GREAT chance’ to trigger a potential return
- Milan were comfortably beaten by Inter in the Champions League semi-finals
- They missed big chances before Inter sealed a 3-0 aggregate win
- Ferdinand, Owen and Gerrard felt Stefano Pioli’s men weren’t clinical enough
AC Milan were “toothless” in their Champions League semi-final loss to Inter Milan and “dominated” throughout both matches, according to Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen.
Inter reached next month’s final with a 3-0 aggregate victory over their bitter rivals, who failed to find the back of the net in over 180 minutes of a draw.
Lautaro Martinez’s close-range strike 16 minutes from time killed any hope of Milan’s return to the San Siro, meaning Simone Inzaghi’s side will face either Manchester City or Real Madrid in the final in Istanbul on June 10.
Over the two matches, Inter always seemed to be in control of the draw and were unlucky not to pick up a more convincing first leg victory last week.
Milan produced a more organized and spirited display on Tuesday after a calamitous performance in the opener, but were unable to pull one back before Martinez put Inter out of sight.
AC Milan have been branded ‘toothless’ after their Champions League semi-final loss to Inter Milan
Lautaro Martinez’s strike 16 minutes from time sealed Inter’s place in next month’s final
Rio Ferdinand (left) and Michael Owen (right) said Milan were ‘toothless’ and ‘overpowered’
It was a miserable evening for Stefano Pioli’s men as their hopes of reaching the Champions League final were dashed, and BT Sport pundits Owen and Ferdinand felt they had paid the price for a miss leading in the final third.
Discussing Milan’s shortcomings in front of goal, Owen said: “Yeah and of course it’s disappointing.” They were outplayed throughout, no doubt who deserved to pass in both encounters.
“Resounding victory, 3-0. AC Milan didn’t even look like they were scoring in the second half. They had a good half hour at the start of the game, we thought if they could score here it might be the game, but for the last hour it was total control.
Ferdinand later added: “I don’t want to disrespect the AC Milan team too much, but in the group stages you never thought they could get to this stage, even get to this point.” And you see where they are in the league right now, they’ve done so well to get here.
“They were toothless and I thought Inter Milan deserved more than going through both legs.”
Milan certainly started the second leg better than the first, taking the game to Inter early and squandering some great chances to take the lead on the night.
One of those golden opportunities came to Brahim Diaz, who went unmarked from the penalty spot when Sandro Tonali picked him in the box, to send a weak effort straight into the hands of André Onana .
And Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard felt Diaz simply had to do better.
Brahim Diaz (centre) wasted a superb first chance for Milan in the second leg
Steven Gerrard claimed Diaz needed to do better after being left unmarked in the penalty area
“That was the big chance for me,” Gerrard said. “They do well to get the ball back, Tonali is tenacious, gets into the box, delivers a fantastic pass at the end, but (Diaz) just doesn’t get good contact on it, almost grabs the grass.
“From Pioli’s point of view, he will look at his midfield there to finish this.” It must be a goal.
Owen added: “I think he has to go high there.” I can’t really go back to the first post. He must be brave and go high. (Rafael Leao’s run later) is brilliant. When someone can walk in and out, you don’t know what they’re going to do.
“When it’s on your left foot, the natural thing is to hit it away from the goal and it was almost not a left footed finish. If he had the room to hit him with his right, he would have done it. But he didn’t have time for that. It was a great game and it was unfortunate.
