On Wednesday, AC Milan and Napoli faced off for the second time in less than two weeks. This time, the stage was the Champions League quarter-finals, with both teams eager to book their respective spots in the semi-finals of this year's competition.
Fresh off their 4-0 thrashing of Napoli in Serie A, Milan were determined to make a statement as the Rossoneri are back in the quarter-finals for the first time in over a decade. It took a while for Stefano Pioli's side to find a breakthrough, but the Diavolo finally grabbed the goal they desperately needed thanks to a brilliant effort from Ismael Bennacer.
In scoring the game opener, Bennacer now has written himself into the history books as the first Algerian international to score for Milan in the Champions League - as well as becomes just one of a handful of African players to find the back of the net for the Rossoneri in European club football's elite competition:
4 - Ismaël Bennacer is the fourth African player to score with AC Milan in UEFA Champions League (excluding own goals), after George Weah , Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari Impressive.#MilanNapoli #UCL pic.twitter.com/Go26wDtUSf
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) April 12, 2023
Still, with 90 minutes left to play, Milan will know that they will still have quite a bit of work to do once they head to Napoli's home ground for the return leg next week.
