MATTEO GABBIA IS MVP OF DINAMO ZAGREB V AC MILAN
Awards
It was his goal that broke the deadlock, that until that point had been complicated for the Rossoneri, and he rescued his team after 16 minutes to keep the score level. If games are won by the finest of details, then Matteo Gabbia's two crucial actions in the first half against Dinamo Zagreb were decisive. After heading home after 39 minutes, the Rossoneri never looked back and were in complete control for the rest of the game; that goal meant a lot for the team and for Matteo.
For the 23-year old, born in 1999, it was his first-ever goal in a Rossoneri shirt and statistically Gabbia, at 23 years and four-days-old, is the second-youngest defender to score in the Champions League for AC Milan, after Christian Panucci (20 years and 233 days in December 1993 against Porto and at 21 years and 204 days in November 1994 against AEK Athens).
Lining up alongside Simon Kjær, a more experienced player of big European nights, Matteo rose to the challenge immediately, winning his battles with Petković and making himself a real threat in attack from set-pieces: from one of these situations came the goal to make it 1-0, a flying diving header.
After the game, he spoke about his development; he thanked his mentor, Kjær, and stated he was already thinking ahead to the next fixtures. The Rossoneri fans have rightly awarded him as the MVP of the match with 54% of the vote, ahead of Ismaël Bennacer - his usual energetic self in midfield - and scorer of the second goal, Rafa Leão.
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