AC Milan sealed their progression to the Champions League semi-final after a 1-1 draw at Napoli to complete a 2-1 aggregate victory over their Italian rivals.

Two minutes before halftime, Giroud tapped in what turned out to be the winning goal. This came after a blistering run by Rafael Leao, who again played a key role in Milan’s third win over Napoli this month.

After missing a penalty in the middle of the first half, the France striker made up for it with his 13th goal of the season.

Inter Milan has a two-goal lead over Benfica going into the second leg of their tie on Wednesday night. This means that Stefano Pioli’s team could face a local rival in the quarter-finals.

“I’m very proud of this team, with that spirit we can dream of anything,” said Giroud to Mediaset.

“In the next round there will be another hard match whether it’s against Inter or Benfica, but if we keep this spirit we can go anywhere.”

After the match Mediaset showed Leao a video of Ruud Gullit setting up a goal with an almost identical run at Napoli in 1988.

“It’s the same,” said a shocked Leao.

“It’s what I try to do, go at players, it’s how I can make difference. If I can’t score I look for my teammates. I saw Giroud there.”

Milan hasn’t been in a semi-final of the Champions League since 2007, when they won the title for the seventh and last time.

Victor Osimhen scored in the last minute of play, but it wasn’t enough for Napoli, who are showing signs of wear and tear as the season winds down.

Once-freewheeling Luciano Spalletti’s team is now struggling to score, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had a penalty shot saved with 10 minutes left, which meant that his team would lose.

Napoli is close to winning their first league title since 1990, but their disappointing exit from Europe on Tuesday, even though they were on the easier side of the draw, was a letdown.

Photo by EPA/CIRO FUSCO