Dutch midfielder Reijnders scored two impressive goals in the 61st and 71st minute, earning Milan their first points in this year’s revamped competition.
Prior to Reijnders’ goals, Brugge had posed a challenge for Milan and equalized Christian Pulisic’s first goal, which was scored directly from a corner kick, thanks to Kyriani Sabbe’s goal six minutes into the second half. At this point, Brugge, who remain at three points, were down to 10 players as Raphael Onyedika was given a straight red card in the 40th minute for accidentally stepping on Reijnders’ ankle.
Reijnders’ two goals, both executed beautifully on the first attempt, were almost overshadowed by a stunning header from 16-year-old Francesco Camarda in the final minutes. The talented youngster celebrated passionately, but his goal was rightly disallowed for being offside.
Tuesday’s victory was crucial for Milan, as the seven-time European champions will face Real Madrid in their next continental match and anything less than three points at the San Siro could jeopardize their qualification for the knockout phase.
Just like in their weekend game, Tuesday’s match was played in front of a subdued crowd as Milan’s hardcore ultras chose to remain silent, this time in protest against the high ticket prices that have angered both ultras and regular fans alike. Fans were shocked to see the cheapest tickets for Milan’s upcoming domestic match against Juventus priced at 100 euros, with the most expensive ones being 479 euros.
The major supporters club AIMC, which is affiliated with Milan and represents tens of thousands of fans, criticized the club’s ticketing policy, accusing them of prioritizing “wealthy foreign tourists or casual fans”. Only 58,649 people attended Tuesday’s match, a significant decrease from the usual 70,000+ fans who fill the San Siro for both Milan and Inter’s Serie A matches.
“We are not cash cows, we are not just here to fill the stadium for less important matches, we are not just here to fill the club museum or San Siro’s parking lots with 120 buses every time we play at home,” stated AIMC in a strongly-worded statement released on Tuesday. Fans will closely follow the developments of the new stadium project, announced earlier on Tuesday, which is a joint effort between Milan and Inter Milan.
One of the criticisms of the previous project, which was abandoned by the two clubs last year, was the significant decrease in capacity and increase in expensive VIP seating.
