Italian champions AC Milan have made it into the UEFA Champions League knockout stage thanks to a comprehensive win over Salzburg on Wednesday night. It was Olivier Giroud’s night as the veteran Frenchman scored two goals for the seven-time champions of Europe.📽️ San Siro Olivier Giroudpic.twitter.com/pM1mvpzf8A— Milan Posts 🏆🇮🇹 (@MilanPosts) November 2, 2022 The iconic stadium San Siro hosted one of the most important matches in recent memory, with the Rossoneri needing three points against Salzburg to seal qualification to the knockout stage.Stefano Pioli’s week has already been great after signing a new contract to stay in charge of the team, but it looked a lot better when Giroud headed the opening goal early on. The home side had already looked dangerous, with captain Theo Hernandez crashing his wicked low shot against the post.The former Chelsea and Arsenal striker put the ball in the net once again midway through the first half, but the flag was raised as he was marginally offside.However, all doubts about the team to qualify were dispelled shortly after the restart.Serbian-Bosnian midfielder Rade Krunic headed in the second shortly after the resumption, and Giroud made it 3-0 within ten minutes. It was all Milan.Salzburg defenders looked slow and heavy, moving as if in slow motion. They never looked capable of putting the hosts under any real pressure. The few half-chances that came their way were wasted by young midfielder Maurits Kjaergaard.Dinamo Zagreb’s 1-0 win over Chelsea in the first matchday virtually sacked Thomas Tuchel from his post at the London club. Tonight, in the reverse fixture, the Croatian team threatened to become the Blues’ bogey team as they took an early lead at Stamford Bridge through Bruno Petkovic.However, recent signings Raheem Sterling and Denis Zakaria both scored to turn the game around. In the end, the Blues finished top of the Group E despite their shaky start. Milan qualify as second, Salzburg will continue in the Europa League, while Dinamo are out of continental competition.CHAMPIONS LEAGUEGroup stage – Round 6TuesdayLeverkusen – Club Brugge 0-0Porto – Atletico 2-1 (2-0)/Taremi 5, Eustaqio 24 – Marcano 90+5/Bayern – Inter 2-0 (1-0)/Pavard 32, Choupo-Moting 72//Liverpool – Napoli 2-0 (0-0)/Salah 85, Nunez 90+8/Olympique de Marseille – Tottenham 1-2 (1-0)/Mbemba 45+2 – Lenglet 54, Hojbjerg 90+5/Plzen – Barcelona 2-4 (0-2)/Chory 50 pen, 63 – Alonso 6, Torres 45, 54, Torre 75/Rangers – Ajax 1-3 (0-2)/Tavernier 86 pen – Berghuis 4, Kudus 29, 56, Conceicao 89/Sporting CP – Eintracht Frankfurt 1-2 (1-0)/Gomes 39 – Kamada 62 pen, Kolo Muani 72/WednesdayReal Madrid – Celtic 5-1 (2-0)/Modric 6 pen, Rodrygo 21 pen, Asensio 51, Vinicius 67, Valverde 71 – Jota 84/Shakhtar – RB Leipzig 0-4 (0-1)/Nkunku 10, Silva 50, Szoboszlai 62, Olmo 68/AC Milan – Salzburg 4-0 (1-0)/Giroud 14, 57, Krunic 46, Messias 90+1/Chelsea – Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 (2-1)/Sterling 18, Zakaria 30 – Petkovic 7/Copenhagen – Borussia Dortmund 1-1 (1-1)/Haraldsson 41 – Hazard 23/Juventus – Paris Saint-Germain 1-2 (1-1)/Bonucci 39 – Mbappe 13, Mendes 69/Maccabi Haifa – Benfica 1-6 (1-1)/Chery 26 pen – Ramos 20, Musa 59, Grimaldo 69, Rafa Silva 73, Araujo 88, Joao Mario 90+1/Manchester City – Sevilla 3-1 (0-0)/Lewis 52, Alvarez 73, Mahrez 83 – Mir 31/
