Milan see off Napoli to reach semi-finals

AC Milan reached the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since winning the competition in 2007 as they saw off Serie A rivals Napoli in an incident-packed game.

Milan could face Inter Milan in the last four, with their city rivals going into Wednesday’s second leg with Benfica holding a 2-0 lead.

Serie A champions-elect Napoli dominated early on – but Milan won a penalty with one of their first attacks, although Olivier Giroud’s spot-kick was saved by Alex Meret.

The veteran Frenchman got the opening goal, though, when he tapped in following a sensational 70-yard run by Rafael Leao to set him up. That made it 2-0 on aggregate.

Napoli were gifted a way back into the game when Fikayo Tomori handled in the box, but Mike Maignan saved Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s penalty.

They did eventually score, through a Victor Osimhen header with seconds remaining in injury time, but there was not enough time to create another chance.

Napoli, 14 points clear of Lazio at the top of the league table, have lost form at a critical time and failed to take a host of chances, with 39 efforts across both legs.