Milan: Giroud, goal hunt to equal himself. Will San Siro be friends again?

The Frenchman is 7 in the league: he has reached eight goals only once in the previous four seasons. With Ibra out and Rebic still part-time, Olivier is forced to work overtime

It will be the air of home, the atmosphere of magical nights, the memory of the Italian grandmothers who taught him the language or the idol Sheva. Maybe a mix of everything, but when Giroud sees San Siro at the end he smiles. He celebrates. All the goals scored for the Rossoneri arrived at Meazza, ten rings divided as follows: two at Cagliari, one at Turin, one at Verona, one at Roma, one at Genoa in the Italian Cup, two more at Lazio and finally the decisive double in the Derby. The highlight of the adventure of him.

Feeling

Now Udinese arrives. And with Ibra out of the game, the young Lazetic not yet in condition and a Rebic still on the hunt for minutes, Olivier will have to work overtime for the fifth game in a row from the first minute, including the cup. After Zlatan’s injury – out after half an hour against Juve due to the Achilles tendon inflammation that still haunts him -, the Frenchman played three full games and 62 minutes against Lazio. He scored two goals for Inter, as many for the Biancocelesti and served an assist in the 2-2 with Salernitana. In 12 matches played at San Siro between the championship, the Italian Cup and the Champions League he has scored 10 goals. In addition, he has broken the curse of the number 9, a sort of negative spiral that has enveloped that jersey since Inzaghi’s retirement. In ten years he has hit several players, from Pato to Piatek, he has not.

With Paolo

Champion of Europe, of the world, of France. Ten years after the historic title with René Girard’s Montpellier, one who literally kicked him in the ass to encourage him to give his best, Giroud is playing for the Scudetto with the Rossoneri. First in the standings ahead of Inter and Napoli. “I love this country – he told GQ -, I want to win here”. The first time he spoke to Pioli he immediately understood his ideas. Giroud knows Italian because of his grandmothers, so he had no problems integrating with his teammates, the staff, the coach, obviously Ibra. “At 40 he still plays, he’s exceptional”. In the past he was close to Inter, Lazio and Juve, but in the end he chose the Rossoneri. He decided a call on FaceTime from Maldini: “An emotion. He embodies the world class of the club ”.

Another trophy?

In the last four seasons, moreover, Giroud had never scored so much in the league: seven rings between Arsenal and Chelsea in 2017-18, three in 2018-19 (eleven in the Europa League, however, won with Sarri as top scorer of the tournament), eight in 2019-20 and four last year. It is now at seven. It lacks a single flicker to match what has been done previously. All at 35 and after a Champions League win with the Blues. Last season he finished with 11 goals, now he is at 10. The record – perhaps unattainable – remains the 25 signed in Montpellier in 2012. At the end of the season he won the Scudetto. Ten years later he fights for the same trophy.

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