Álvaro Morata silences Bernabéu as Milan capitalise on Real Madrid malaise

For one brief moment, you wondered if it might happen again. With eight minutes to go between the clubs who have won this competition more than anyone else, and Real Madrid 3-1 down, Antonio Rüdiger guided a shot into the net that might have been a bugle call, a call to arms, madness gripping this place again and ushering in yet another wild finale. This time though there was no comeback and no epic, only reality. Justice too. Rüdiger had been offside, the goal was ruled out and Milan got a victory they had throughly deserved.

Goals from Malick Thiaw, the exceptional Tijjani Reijnders and the Spain captain Álvaro Morata – of course – secured a victory Milan badly needed and inflicted Madrid's first Champions League defeat here since Chelsea won 3-2 in April 2022. Even then they had come back and progressed, ending the season as one of the most miraculous champions in memory. Here there was no such luck, no such reaction either. No noise, no revival, and no complaint. Not from the players, at least.

On the night Carlo Ancelotti equalled Alex Ferguson as the man who has taken charge of the most games in the European Cup, his sluggish, slow and supposedly invincible team were outplayed. Milan , apparently struggling, their own coach on the edge of the abyss, were superb, Christian Pulisic especially, and the night ended with thousands of their fans singing loudly from high in the north stand. Madrid's supporters meanwhile just whistled and made their way to the exits. It was not just that they had been beaten; it was how, an indolence about them that irritated supporters here, the visitors' job made unexpectedly easy.

Milan had played their way around the Bernabéu pitch with what looked like ease, advancing mostly unchallenged through midfield, where Morata fell in to add an extra man and Reijnders strode through wide spaces. The ball didn't even have to move especially fast to go from player to player, white shirts arriving late if they came at all. The two goals that gave them a lead at half-time expressed that flatness too. It had only taken Milan 11 minutes to take the lead. A lovely ball from Morata, struck with the outside of his foot, set Rafael Leão away up the left, beyond Lucas Vázquez and he won a corner from which Pulisic delivered for Thiaw to head in.

So often it seems that Madrid need something to fight against in order to stir, and their reaction was almost immediate, Kylian Mbappé drawing a sharp save from Mike Maignan just 19 seconds after the restart. Then, on 10 minutes, Vinícius Júnior was clipped by Emerson Royal, winning a penalty that he dinked gently into the net. Madrid were level, and a moment later Rüdiger wiped out Pulisic, the kind of moment that sometimes gets this place roaring. And yet this was not the revival many imagined.

Instead, Milan imposed themselves, three corners in a minute underlining how far, and how easily, they were being allowed to travel. Theo Hernández the first permitted to run and fire off a shot that was blocked. Andriy Lunin then made an impressive save from Reijnders. Milan were picking their way through the midfield, and when Pulisic led another calmly constructed attack, they got the second. The American found Leão, who turned near the penalty spot to shoot. Lunin saved but there was Morata to score.

It had to be him. He had been whistled, there had been chants of "Morata how bad are you?" – not bad at all – but there was no wild celebration. Instead he cupped his finger round his lip – silence perhaps or a nod to Movember – and then raised a V in support of Valencia, victim last week of the worst floods to ever hit Spain .

Eduardo Camavinga and Brahim Díaz were introduced at half-time and Dani Ceballos would follow not long after but it didn't change anything. Not even the atmosphere; there was no roar, no charge, no smell of blood. Instead, it was Milan who scored again.

First Lunin made a brilliant save from Leão's header after Yunus Musah had flown up the right to cross. Then the superb Pulisic stepped away from Rüdiger and ran into the wide open space before him, a path opening all the way to the Madrid goal; 60, 70 yards he went before finding Leão, who wasted the opportunity. And after Jude Bellingham scuffed one over and Mbappé shot wide, Milan made it three.

Again, it was Reijnders who led them up the pitch, the move beginning all the way back with Maignan; again, the challenges, if they could even be called that, were ridden with ease, two men rolled not once but twice. As the ball went to Leão, advancing on the left, the Dutchman continued his run into the area, and steered past Lunin. There was still time for Madrid, they tend not to need much after all, but when Rüdiger was ruled out for offside the revival, in so far as there ever was one, was over, Milan's supporters the ones cheering at the last.