Many expected that Milan, based on their Champions League form (five consecutive wins), would be able to handle Dinamo easily and secure direct qualification to the Round of 16 in Europe’s top competition. It seemed that Sergio Conceicao’s team had the perfect opponent, as the seven-time European champions had met the team from Maksimir four times before and won each time, scoring at least three goals in every match. Tradition, form, and a far stronger squad—all of this was on the side of the team from San Siro, but the pitch told a different story.The Zagreb side knew this match was make or break, and they approached it with that mentality. Fabio Cannavaro’s team came out with determination, with the attitude that their knees wouldn’t shake in front of a much stronger opponent. They showed grit and teeth, and it paid off.Cannavaro’s Dinamo Zagreb with the 1-0 lead over Milan 😏 pic.twitter.com/RRIfBT7laO— B/R Football (@brfootball) January 29, 2025 Matteo Gabbia may be a starter at this point, but Conceicao will think twice before giving him another chance to play alongside Strahinja Pavlovic or another defender. Gabbia made a catastrophic mistake that directly gifted a goal to Martin Baturina. This young player at Dinamo is valued at 25 million euros, and among the clubs that showed interest were, among others, Manchester United and—of course—Milan. After this match, there’s no doubt his price has gone up by a few million. The Blues have surely found a new golden goose.YUNUS MUSAH RED CARD AFTER GETTING TWO YELLOWS IN 8 MINUTES. This after Pulisic saw yellow in 26′ 🤯 pic.twitter.com/XVZeOt7Ud0— Men in Blazers (@MenInBlazers) January 29, 2025 To make matters even better for the Croatian champions, Yunus Musah took care of it. The American received two yellow cards in the span of eight minutes, leaving the Rossoneri with one player less. Despite their winning streak, Milan seems far from a serious team that would make anyone nervous. It appears that their play, at least for now, hasn’t improved much since the period when Paulo Fonseca was on the bench. There’s a lack of aggressiveness, and they’re not very effective offensively, except when Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic have the ball at their feet.Scandal! Milan’s boss and ex-captain at each other’s throats after a win?!The American was once again there when it mattered most. The visiting team pushed forward with a high defensive line, which left plenty of space for Dinamo to counterattack, but despite not playing much better during that period, Milan somehow managed to equalize. This scenario is a reflection of the club’s current state. They’ve managed to scrape through many times: against Red Star, Girona, Slovan Bratislava, but this time, it wasn’t meant to be. It was just too much. A player emerged who Serie A overlooked. There’s a certain poetic justice in the fact that the scorer of the winning goal for Dinamo was Marko Pjaca, and it came against one of the biggest clubs in Italy.UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 8Wednesday Aston Villa – Celtic 4-2 (2-2)/Rogers 3, 5, 90+1, Watkins 61 – Idah 36, 38/Barcelona – Atalanta 2-2 (0-0)/Yamal 47, Araujo 73 – Ederson 67, Pasalic 80/Bayern – Slovan B. 3-1 (1-0)/Muller 8, Kane 63, Coman 84 – Tolic 90/Brest – Real Madrid 0-3 (0-1)/Rodrygo 27, 78, Bellingham 57/Dinamo Zagreb – Milan 2-1 (1-0)/Baturina 19, Pjaca 60 – Pulisic 53/Dortmund – Shakhtar 3-1 (2-0)/Guirassy 17, 44, Bensebaini 79 – Gomes 50/Girona – Arsenal 1-2 (1-2)/Danjuma 28 – Jorginho 38 pen, Nwaneri 42/Inter – Monaco 3-0 (2-0)/Martinez 3 pen, 16, 67/Juventus – Benfica 0-2 (0-1)/Pavlidis 17, Kokcu 81/Leverkusen – Sparta Praha 2-0 (1-0)/Wirtz 32, Tella 64/Lille – Feyenoord 6-1 (2-1)/Sahraoui 5, Trauner 39 og, Gomes 57, David 74, Haraldsson 76, Cabella 80 – Gimenez 14/Man.City – Club Brugge 3-1 (0-1)/Kovacic 53, Ordonez 62 og, Savinho 77 – Onyedika 45/PSV – Liverpool 3-2 (3-2)/Bakayoko 35, Saibari 45, Pepi 45+6 – Gakpo 27 pen, Elliott 40/Salzburg – Atl.Madrid 1-4 (0-3)/Daghim 90+1 – Simeone 5, Griezmann 13, 45+1, Llorente 64/Sporting – Bologna 1-1 (0-1)/Harder 77 – Pobega 21/Sturm – RB Leipzig 1-0 (1-0)/Malic 42/Stuttgart – PSG 1-4 (0-3)/Fuhrich 78 – Barcola 6, Dembele 19, 35, 54/Young Boys – Crvena zvezda 0-1 (0-0)/Kanga 69/
