Our 4️⃣ points as Coman shows no love and Milan rekindle glory days | OneFootball

There was no love lost in Valentine’s Day in either Paris or Milan on an intriguing night of Champions League last 16 action.

This is what we made of it.

No Valentine’s Day love in Paris

Paris. Valentine’s Day. All of the ingredients were there for romance when PSG welcomed Bayern Munich to the Parc des Princes.

Unfortunately, Kingsley Coman had no interest in rekindling the fire with an ex as he came back to hurt his former employers once again.

After netting the opener thanks to some questionable Gianluigi Donnarumma goalkeeping (although he did make up for it with two big saves later), he has given Bayern the big advantage and leaves PSG staring into the Champions League abyss again.

At least he didn’t rub it in too much as he refused to celebrate against his PSG, coming back to hurt them once more – as he famously did in the Champions League final.

It is also his third game in a row hitting the net, something he had only previously managed to do in November 2020. He’s on fire right now.

Milan lift the mood

Milan have struggled badly as of late and when it comes to the Champions League, could have done without facing an English side after losing their last five against Premier League opposition in this competition.

But Brahim Díaz became their youngest knockout stage scorer since Kakà almost 20 years ago to head them into the box seat against a Spurs side who responded well to that early setback but failed to ever put the Diavolo’s defence to the test.

They should be further ahead in the tie (more on that to come) but this was a huge shot in the arm for Stefano Pioli’s side on a night that saw the box office record for matchday revenue in Italy broken as 73,430 fans crammed into Serie A and brought €9.1m in for Milan.

The most important thing for those fans though will simply seeing their team look like a European threat again at the top level after so long in the wilderness.

Spurs had their moments and any of the concerns around the inexperienced midfield duo of Oliver Skipp and Pape Matar Sarr proved unfounded as they proved to be the biggest positive for their side on a tough night, although this tie is far from over.

Small margins cost PSG

If PSG had played for the first 70 minutes of this one as they did for the closing stages or if Kylian Mbappé had been fully fit, it may have been a different outcome.

After putting in the longest wait ever for a shot in this tournament since Opta began recording such data and attempting just one in the first half, they roared into life following Mbappé’s introduction.

He had two goals disallowed, the second of which came after a razor thin offside call on Nuno Mendes, and also produced a huge save from Yann Sommer when played in on goal.

Lionel Messi also went very close himself in the final five minutes, only for Benjamin Pavard to be perfectly placed and put in a huge block when the Argentine seemed set to score.

A tale of two headers

If Milan don’t end up qualifying from this tie, they will look back on two massive moments within 30 seconds of each other in the closing stages as the reason why.

They could have killed this game off sooner and potentially the tie but Charles De Ketelaere and then Malick Thiaw passed up the chances.

The Belgian perhaps didn’t have his eye in yet, having only been summoned from the bench moments before being presented with a golden opportunity for the second.

As if that one was bad enough, moments later the excellent Rafael Leão (who finished with more completed dribbles in a Champions League game for Milan than any other player since 2004) picked out Thiaw in the area and offered him another chance to put the game to bed.

Like De Ketelaere, his header was unchallenged and he had the goal gaping. Like the Belgian, he also failed to even work Fraser Forster.

Will those misses ultimately hurt the Rossoneri in north London?