James Milner should have been sent off for a “savage” tackle during Liverpool’s 3-2 Champions League victory over AC Milan last night, former referee Graziano Cesari has told Mediaset, via Tuttomercatoweb.
It speaks volumes on how highly the veteran midfielder is regarded at Anfield that, despite playing just ten minutes of last night’s five-goal thriller, Liverpool supporters voted Milner their man of the match on the BBC website.
Of course there was more than an element of tongue in cheek – match-winner Jordan Henderson was outstanding on the night and took home the official award – but it’s a reminder of how many fans the evergreen 34-year-old has on the red half of Merseyside.
According to Cesari, however, Milner was lucky to last until the final whistle, insisting the former Manchester City star should have received his marching orders for a lunge that sent Brahim Diaz, Milan’s velvet-toed danger man, sprawling on the touchline.
Was Liverpool hero James Milner lucky not to receive a red card vs Milan?
“In the second minute of injury time, Milner makes a savage (tackle) on Diaz and had to be punished with red, absolutely,” says Cesari, now working as a pundit on Italian TV – Parma’s answer to Peter Walton, if you will.
Milner would receive only a yellow from referee Szymon Marciniak, however, one of only two in a game high on energy, drama and goal-scoring chances but relatively low on aggression.
And with Jurgen Klopp rotating his squad for Milan’s first-ever visit to Anfield – Joe Gomez and Divock Origi coming into the side as Virgil van Dijk and Sadio Mane dropped out – don’t be surprised if Milner has more of a role to play during the Champions League group stages.
The Reds have Porto and La Liga winners Atletico Madrid – who knocked Liverpool out of the competition in March 2020 – coming up during the next couple of weeks.
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