Italian Clubs

MILAN — A second-half goal by forward Lautaro Martinez earned Inter Milan a 1-0 victory over rivals AC Milan in their Champions League semifinal second leg on Tuesday, sealing a 3-0 aggregate win to book their ticket to the showpiece in Istanbul.

Milan recovered some of the spark they lacked in first leg but Inter's Martinez put the tie to bed when he struck powerfully from close range in the 74th minute at the San Siro.

AC Milan forward Rafael Leão could be fit to face Inter Milan in their Champions League semifinal second leg, manager Stefano Pioli said on Monday, providing a major boost to his side's hopes of overturning a two-goal deficit.

Portuguese winger Leão, 23, missed the 2-0 first-leg defeat and also sat out Saturday's shock loss to Spezia in Serie A after sustaining a thigh injury in Milan's league win over Lazio earlier this month.

Leão has been one of Milan's most influential players this season and registered 13 goals and 10 assists in all competitions.

Having just turned 30 back in March, Paul Pogba should be at the height of his powers in the Juventus midfield. But the Frenchman has been so riddled by injuries that Sunday's Serie A match between Juve and Cremonese at Allianz Stadium represented his first start since turning out for Manchester United against Norwich back in April of 2022.

For fans of the beautiful game, it's been a tremendous loss — the World Cup winner, when healthy and in form, is an otherworldly mezzala, capable of things his peers can only conjure in their imaginations. 

The summer transfer window must be approaching because the Christian Pulisic transfer rumors are back. A week after Olivier Giroud said that AC Milan would love to have Pulisic, Napoli and Juventus are also showing interest.

Napoli clinched the Serie A title on Thursday with five games to spare as they ended a 33-year drought stretching back to when Diego Maradona led them to the Scudetto in 1990.

At the start of the season it would have been difficult to envisage Napoli becoming champions ahead of heavyweights such as Juventus and the two Milan clubs not to mention AS Roma.

AC Milan forward Olivier Giroud said that USMNT star Christian Pulisic was a “happy boy” at Chelsea when they played together, compared the American to Eden Hazard and claimed he’d be welcomed in Milan.

Giroud made a guest appearance on the CBS Sports GOLAZO! Network on Thursday and shared his experiences of playing with Pulisic. The 36-year-old Frenchman and Pulisic played together for two seasons at Chelsea in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns, winning the UEFA Champions League in the process.

Here’s what Giroud had to say about Captain America.

AS Roma manager José Mourinho stole a move straight out of the pages of a spy novel when he wore a wire on the touchline during his team's 1-1 draw at Monza in Serie A on Wednesday, which he said was to protect himself from the match officials.

Mourinho, who is no stranger to clashes with referees, tore into Daniele Chiffi after the game, describing the 38-year-old official as "the worst I've ever encountered."