Femi Solaja

In a recent UEFA Champions League match, AC Milan secured a 3-1 victory against Belgium’s Club Brugge, with Samuel Chukwueze coming off the bench to provide an assist. Unfortunately for his Super Eagles teammate Raphael Onyedika, he received a straight red card for a high boot challenge on Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders, following intervention from the video assistant referee (VAR) in the 40th minute.

Milan started the match slowly, with Brugge making an early impression. A fantastic save from Mike Maignan prevented Christos Tzolis from giving Brugge the lead. After losing their opening games to Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen, Milan knew they needed a win, and they managed to find the net when Christian Pulisic’s inswinging corner unexpectedly went straight in.

However, Brugge equalized with a well-crafted goal, as substitute Kyriani Sabbe found himself in a prime position to score, making him just the fourth teenager to score against Milan in the Champions League. Milan’s head coach, Paulo Fonseca, faced criticism from fans when he substituted the lively Rafael Leao, but his replacement, Noah Okafor, made an instant impact by setting up Reijnders for a side-footed finish that restored Milan’s lead.

Okafor was instrumental again when he assisted Chukwueze, who scored Milan’s third goal, sealing the win. The match also saw Francesco Camarda enter the game, making history as the youngest Italian player to appear in the Champions League at just 16 years and 226 days old.

Elsewhere in the tournament, Monaco’s Takumi Minamino shined by scoring twice in a dominant 5-1 victory over Red Star Belgrade. After opening the scoring in the 20th minute, Minamino saw Red Star equalize through a penalty from Cherif Ndiaye. Breel Embolo quickly restored Monaco’s lead just before halftime, and Wilfried Singo capped off the evening with a stunning strike from 30 yards out.

RESULTS (UCL)
– Milan 3-1 Brugge
– Monaco 5-1 Red Star
– Arsenal 1-0 Shakhtar
– Aston Villa 2-0 Bologna
– Girona 2-0 Bratislava
– Juventus 0-1 Stuttgart
– PSG 1-1 PSV Eindhoven
– Madrid 5-2 Dortmund
– Graz 0-2 Sporting CP

Looking ahead to Wednesday’s matchups:
– Barcelona vs Bayern
– Man City vs Sparta
– Atalanta vs Celtic
– Brest vs Leverkusen
– Atletico vs Lille
– Benfica vs Feyenoord
– Leipzig vs Liverpool
– Salzburg vs Zagreb
– Young Boys vs Inter

EUROPA
– Galatasaray vs Elfsborg
– Braga vs Bodo/Glimt