Milan-Sampdoria 5-1: hat-trick from Giroud, goals from Leao and Diaz

After so much stress, it is pleasant to spend a pleasant evening in the Spa. Milan immediately purifies itself of the toxins accumulated in the unfortunate last night of the Champions League and pushes hard in view of the final straight, sweeping away a too demotivated Sampdoria, compared to the Rossoneri stimuli, to resist to the devil’s attack. San Siro in four days has transformed from a wailing wall to an amusement park, with five (to one) that rehabilitates all the Rossoneri guns in one go, blocked for too long: Giroud with three of a kind, Leao and Diaz, who churned out goals and assists. Important signals in view of the last 180 minutes for a team that came from three outings without ever throwing them inside. Signals – in front of yet another Meazza over 70 thousand – sent with the same eleven of the second round with Inter.

THE CHOICES

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With only one front left to deal with, Pioli will no longer make any calculations from here to the end: rotations abolished and, always, the very owners. So Giroud, even though Oly has been struggling with calf and tendon problems for several weeks. Inside Leao, who has to get back on track after the stop. Inside Diaz in the center of the trocar and space for Krunic and Tonali in the median. Thiaw confirmed in defense next to Tomori. The last-minute injured players Rebic and Origi are absent. A closing of the season that has a certain coherence with the miseries of the previous months: both not received, with all due respect to rotations that it was impossible for the coach to materialize seriously. Stankovic entrusted the attack to Quagliarella and Gabbiadini, with a 4-4-2 in which he found Leris, placed wide on the right in midfield. However, the game system counts for little or nothing if the attitude is missing. Stankovic’s appeal – “We want to fight” – fell soundly on deaf ears. His Sampdoria, devoid of stimuli and malice, kindly accommodated Milan in their own half, making the wrong exits, climbing and opening freeways for the Rossoneri. To which it did not seem true to find themselves with the minimum union of fatigue constantly close to the opposing area.

ONE WAY

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A one-way score (almost) which in fact quickly produced feedback. Diavolo took the lead after just nine minutes with Leao, who performed a superb stop and overtook Ravaglia on the way out. Cheers for Diaz, who served it up as the perfect “10” after outdoing Winks with a sombrero. All downhill? Not at all. Like other times this year, Mister Hyde came out for the Rossoneri. This time he got hold of Diaz and above all of Hernandez, who transformed Zanoli into Messi, allowing the Sampdoria winger to elegantly go to the wing and cross for Quagliarella in tow. Right to cross and one to one. As has often been seen this season, if Sampdoria had still had a reason to fight, Milan would have risked making life a lot more complicated. The 1-1 draw was emblematic of the tension drops and the revisable defensive phase already seen throughout the year. However, Doria did not have these reasons, and so the Devil immediately went forward. First Ravaglia took Thiaw off the line and a minute later (24′) Giroud deflected a millimeter cross into goal by Diaz, who delivered the second assist of the match. Three minutes and the trio arrived: Tonali sent Leao into goal, overwhelmed in the area by Gunter (who also has the marking on Rafa on the first goal on his conscience) and a penalty put in by Giroud. Looking at the notes on the goals: Leao, Giroud, Diaz. The titular from which it is reasonable to expect performances by leading actors. Great news.

BALL AT HOME

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Game virtually archived and definitively sent to the attic halfway through the second half. First with Diaz’s goal, which sanctified a splendid action designed with the protractor by Leao and Tonali. And then with the personal trio dropped by Giroud, who won the Greco-Roman round with Nuytinck in the small area and deposited again in the net. Hat trick, hat-trick and ball at home inside the bag. Clarification: the cross for Oly was from Leao. Again and again them. The conditions for a proper season finale are all there.