The French world champion risks having to step aside following his missed penalty against Hellas Verone.
AC Milan lost big last weekend. Consequence of its draw against Bologna (2-2). After falling behind after half an hour of play, the Rossoneri seemed to have done the hard part by turning the situation around thanks to a double from Ruben Loftus-Cheek but a penalty allowed the visitors to equalize in added time.
And the Milanese could have all the more regrets as they themselves had previously missed two penalties, the first by Olivier Giroud in the first period, the second by Théo Hernandez at the start of the last quarter of an hour while the The old Gunner was out. The two Frenchmen have also entered the annals of the Milanese club since never since 1955 have two Milanese players missed a penalty during the same match.
Four failures out of 37 penalties taken
And this missed penalty could have another unfortunate consequence for Olivier Giroud. A regular penalty taker, the native of Grenoble risks having to pass his turn. At the end of the match, Rafael Leao made clear his desire to take Milan’s next penalty. And maybe more… “I want to take the next penalty”he confided, taking care not to push the Isérois: “I have respect for Giroud: we sometimes make mistakes.”
The message was heard, in particular by Stefano Pioli, the Milan coach. “Leao told me he wanted to take the next penalties”, he confirmed. Rafael Leao, however, missed the only penalty taken at the highest level, with the Portuguese selection during the easy success won by Luxembourg (6-0) in March 2023. For his part, Olivier Giroud has only four failures in 37 attempts. Problem is, three of these misses were committed with AC Milan and this missed penalty against Bologna came less than two months after that against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League. A failure with serious consequences.
