Before the eighth final first leg of the LOSC Champions League on the Borussia Dortmund field on Tuesday evening, Canal+ rebroadcast the victory of the DOGUES led by Claude Puel in San Siro against AC Milan (0-2), on December 6, 2006, on the last day of the group phase. Peter Odemwingie opened the entry score taking advantage of a bad referral to the opposing goalkeeper, the Australian Zeljko Kalac, then Kader Keïta did the break in the second period to qualify his team in 8th. On the Rossoneri side, Yoann Gourcuff had been aligned from the start for one of his rare starts of the season. The young French attacking midfielder did not shine, even if, on one of his corners, Filippo Inzaghi smashed the bar.
Small prodigy of Stade Rennais, courted by OL and PSG, Gourcuff preferred to join AC Milan, which paid 4.5 million euros in the summer of 2006. Small problem: the 20 -year -old arrived in a team made up of many talents, especially in the midfield. Kaka lining as a playmaker, he had a first season with 2 goals and 3 assists in 34 games. Insufficient. He was not even registered on the match sheet of the Champions League final won against Liverpool (2-1). He played even less in his second season on the other side of the Alps (20 matches), after the arrival of a certain Ronaldinho.
Maldini destroys Gourcuff!
For Paolo Maldini, Gourcuff was responsible for his Milanese failure, as said by the Milanese legend in the columns of The team in 2010: “Gourcuff in Milan was 100%mistaken. His problem here was his behavior. He was not intelligent in the way of managing himself. When he played here, he did not want to make himself available to the group. He didn't start studying the Italian right away. Tactics, he didn't want to work it. He was not always on time. Many things happened. Things that are not possible to tell. But he knows very well what he did. ”
Too young, not very mentally, little voluntary and “Having become a foreign body to the group” (According to Maldini), Yoann Gourcuff left his Milanese hell. Loaned to the Girondins de Bordeaux with a purchase option of 15 million euros, he literally exploded by making a 2008-2009 season to 15 goals and 11 assists, with this memorable chain against PSG. The rest of his career quickly changed in the slump. New attraction of the French team, he never confirmed. OL's most expensive recruit in 2010, Christian's son never shone. Terrible.
