After Kyle Walker started for AC Milan in their 2-1 aggregate loss to Feyenoord on Tuesday, which resulted in the club’s elimination from this year’s Champions League, the Italian media has provided their opinions on the player.
The match against the Rotterdam team took place on Tuesday evening at the San Siro, which was formerly known as Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. Walker, who is 34 years old, started the match.
At the beginning of the match, Milan was trailing by a goal; however, after only forty seconds, new signing Santiago Gimenez scored against his former club to tie the match on aggregate.
Theo Hernandez, who was playing for Milan, was shown a second yellow card for simulation after going over in the penalty area. This was an unexpected turn of events that occurred during the game.
When Julian Carranza headed the ball past Mike Maignan in the 71st minute, Milan’s situation became even more dire. This gave the Dutch team the advantage in the match, which they had been struggling to maintain.
Even though they had players like Joao Felix and Rafael Leao on their roster, their team was unable to prevent them from being eliminated from the Champions League competition this year.
Following their advancement to the round of 16, Feyenoord will now face either Inter Milan or Arsenal as their next opponent.
Nevertheless, what kind of reactions did the Italian media have, and what were their thoughts on Walker’s performance?
There is one thing that can be said with absolute certainty: Walker will not be able to fulfil his “dream” of winning the Champions League with Milan, at least not during this season.
“After completing his loan move from Manchester City, I hope to contribute with my experience and leadership, and to assist Milan in getting back to where it wants to be,” Walker said after the move between the two clubs was finalised.
In a fantastic final with City, I had the opportunity to experience what it would be like to win the Champions League. It would be a dream come true.
Hernandez’s red card was the primary focus of the country’s media, but there were also outlets that voiced their disapproval of the England international.
According to Corriere Della Sera, the right-back received a rating of 5.5 out of 10 for his performance on Tuesday. The publication also provided an explanation regarding how his “leadership is not always enough: on the equaliser cross, he did not put up much resistance.”
He received a slightly higher rating of 6.5/10 from Football Italia, which not only praised his “leadership” qualities but also gave him a compliment.
It was written in the publication that “his presence on the right flank seems to make the entire defence more confident and calm,” and that “his leadership, concentration, and speed still make him a tough obstacle to overcome for his opponents.”
The rating that Walker received from La Gazzetta dello Sport was 5.5.
The disappointing outcome prompted Walker to have a conversation with Sky Italia.
“The way we were controlling the game, we were the only ones on the pitch, then the referee made his decision: I didn’t see the episode, I can’t say if it was right or wrong,” Walker explained to reporters.
