Top Winners and Losers After Champions League Semifinals Leg 1 Results
The first leg of the Champions League derby semifinal went to Inter Milan, and it wasn't particularly close.
Internazionale smacked around AC Milan, 2-0, putting themselves in an excellent position to advance to the final against either Manchester City or Real Madrid.
Below, we'll take a look at the day's winners and losers.
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Winner: Edin Džeko
It didn't take long for Inter Milan to take command of this match, thanks to an absolute wonder strike from the seemingly ageless Edin Džeko:
How's that for 37 years of age? A finish of pure class.
And footy Twitter was loving the moment, though there was a touch of surprise it was delivered by Džeko:
If there were any questions about bringing Romelu Lukaku off the bench, they were more than answered just eight minutes into the match.
Winner: Henrikh Mkhitaryan
If a 37-year-old can score a goal like that, why can't a 34-year-old get in on the action too?
Enter Henrikh Mkhitaryan, just three minutes later:
Give the man his flowers for the touch and the finish:
Sometimes, heroes come from unexpected places. You probably didn't have "Mkhitaryan scoring in the semifinals" on your UCL bingo card to start the season, but here we are.
Loser: AC Milan's Defense
Pick your adjective of choice for the Milan defense in this match, namely in the first half: Poor. Unacceptable. Porous. Drowsy. Disengaged.
Footy Twitter had a few of their own:
The fact that AC Milan had only conceded one goal in their previous six UCL matches made Wednesday's result all the more shocking. This simply wasn't the defensive effort anybody was expecting.
Loser: AC Milan's Pride
That defensive breakdown was joined by what almost felt like an apathetic approach in the midfield, and a general flatness across the board.
And this wasn't just a Champions League semifinal first leg, it was also a derby game against a hated rival, and one who has now beaten AC Milan four times in the past six matchups, with one draw in the mix.
But AC Milan simply weren't up for it, at all.
Obviously, AC Milan have the chance to save face and move on to the UCL final with huge performance next week in the second leg. But they dug themselves a deep, deep hole.
