PLAYER PROFILE: VALENTINA CERNOIA

An experienced figure. 32-year-old Valentina Cernoia is nearing the end of her first season in Rossonere colours, one which that hasn’t gone entirely to plan for AC Milan but where there have been some positive signs in the past few weeks. Indeed, going forward, the team will be looking to build on their promising performances and results in the final part of the season.

This period has seen Valentina gain more playing time for Coach Corti’s side, thus becoming an increasingly central figure in the Rossonere midfield. Cernoia, who has started each of AC Milan’s last five matches (and six of the last seven), is probably enjoying her best spell of the season and provided an assist in both matches against Pomigliano in the Relegation Round (the first was for Vigilucci and the second for Mesjasz).

Previously, she spent nine seasons at Brescia, a stone's throw from her birthplace, Manerbio, and six years at Juventus. Across these two spells, she scored 52 goals in 270 Serie A appearances, winning the Scudetto (x7), the Coppa Italia (x6) and the Supercoppa Italiana (x6). She’s also had a fantastic international career, playing in two World Cups (2019 and 2023) and the same number of European Championships (2017 and 2022). She thus has tremendous experience under her belt, and she’s used this to help the group move on from the first part of the season where results didn’t meet expectations.

The players had a look at themselves, understood that they had a lot more to give and, thanks also to Valentina’s contribution, have since shown what they can do during the second part of the 2023/24 campaign. Cernoia spoke exclusively to our microphones: “We’ve responded in the second part of the season and managed to rediscover ourselves to finish the campaign well. On Saturday, we’ll play in front of our fans in what will be our final match of the season. We expect to finish on a high.”

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