Italian press in awe: ‘Reijnders could easily be the best player in the competition’ | OneFootball

Compliments poured in for Tijjani Reijnders after the Dutch midfielder was centre-stage in AC Milan‘s 6-1 win over Sassuolo in the Coppa Italia. Reijnders was seemingly everywhere and grabbed an assist and a goal at San Siro.

Samuel Chukwueze opened the scoring in the 12th minute after a delicately curled ball from Reijnders in the middle found the Nigerian perfectly in behind to finish after initially striking the post.

Reijnders then scored the game’s second goal with an excellent low strike from outside the box just five minutes later. Chukwueze notched his second of the day in the 21st minute before Rafael Leao made it 4-0 on 23′ as the Sassuolo defence truly buckled against the Rossoneri pressure.

Although the struggling Neroverdi held out until the break, the scoring resumed 10 minutes after the interval as Davide Calabria made it five. Samuele Mulattieri did manage a powerfully hit consolation on 59′, yet Tammy Abraham made sure that was quickly forgotten with a delicate chip three minutes later.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, it wasn’t difficult to choose the best player on the pitch. “There is a man who looks down on others with princely superiority. Between the twelfth and seventeenth minute, Reijnders played like a man among boys, with the simplicity of someone who was born to run on grass with thirteen studs.”

“The 1-0 came from his overview: Sassuolo were good, but Reijnders saw an opportunity where others saw four white shirts in a row. The 2-0 was a tribute to simplicity. Reijnders looked at it and hit it full, with his instep, as they used to do, straight into the corner. Reijnders could easily be the best player in the competition.”

Coach Paulo Fonseca saw a ‘magnificent’ Milan team performance above all. “It was really very good, that first half was magical and I was also able to give players some rest. I can really only say positive things. We took it very seriously, that’s good to see. I want to win the cup.” Corriere dello Sport saw that Milan “were enjoying themselves”.

“It was over in less than 25 minutes. And in the second half the monologue continued happily.”

It is important to be in front of the television on time for Milan matches. Reijnders and his teammates have already scored 24 goals in the first half this season. Only Atalanta can keep up with that pace. Sixteen of those early goals were scored in home matches, which means the team is the sole ruler. Milan love to start quickly, with Tuesday evening a testament to that as, of course, the score was 4-0 after just 23 minutes.

GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield