They were never going to die wondering, wishing or waiting. It’s not in the RB Salzburg nature to do so.
Whether it’s defying critics over the controversial umpteen transfer of marquee players to sister club RB Leipzig, or punching above their weight in European competition, the Austrian side fight. And they fight hard, especially with Champions League last 16 progression on the line.
But, as the likes of Anthony Joshua, Nick Kyrgios and Lewis Hamilton have discovered in their respective fields, admirably battling hard against stacked odds does not automatically correlate to success.
Olivier Giroud turned on the style as he scored and assisted in AC Milan’s win over RB Salzburg
The Frenchman capitalised on some poor defending to score his second goal of the game
Giroud blows kisses to the San Siro crowd after bagging his brace in the Champions League
AC Milan’s players celebrate reaching the last-16 stage for the first time in nine years
Nor does it correlate to fairness. Oliver Giroud may have played the role of a school bully running riot in a playground with a brace of goals and an assist, and AC Milan may have tightly wrapped the game up within an hour, though the scoreline only tells a quarter of the storyline.
They were for a period admirable, Maurits Kjaergaard and Noah Okafor leading the charge, striking on the counter where possible, rattling the opposition and its fans on numerous occasions.
Though the real sucker punch reared its head within just 30 minutes of the match. You could not surmise the match on this, but it was certainly heading in one direction after.
Chasing a 1-0 deficit, thanks to a deft Giroud header, Luka Sucic slid in Okafor with a perfectly timed through ball.
With his left leg recoiling like a pistol ready to shoot an equaliser, a sliding challenge from Pierre Kalulu came in from the left side, catching plenty of calf and barely centimetres of the ball.
Sucic laid splayed out on the turf with a wince, expecting referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz to award a penalty.
Certainly, a well-merited case for it, and for sure not a case of play acting. There was clear excessive contact.
But Lahoz didn’t bear it a thought. Play went on, and VAR deemed it was not a clear an obvious error. Therefore, it could not be overturned.
They will feel unduly hard done by this. But many will not sympathise, having subsequently witnessed Milan put their foot on the accelerator and not let go from this point onwards to see Salzburg dumped from the competition.
Salzburg could, though, not be accused of leaving only half out there, and that says a lot about this young side — they have fielded the youngest starting XI on average in this year’s group stage at just 22 years and 279 days — under manager Matthias Jaissle.
Giroud broke the deadlock inside quarter of an hour by heading home from a corner
The former Arsenal and Chelsea striker was left unmarked inside the box at the corner
Giroud directed his headed into the corner of the net which the defenders were unable to clear
Giroud celebrates with his AC Milan team-mates after breaking the deadlock early on
The Austrian’s already had much to climb to reach the knockout stages — only victory in the San Siro cauldron would secure progression to the next leg — before the match had even started.
The game was just three minutes old when Theo Hernandez shrugged Oumar Solet to the ground, before wiggling away to strike against the right post.
It was a warning sign of what to come. But Salzburg were pumped amid the raucous atmosphere and went for broke from the whistle.
In the space of 10 minutes, they had two must-take chances. Fikayo Tomori blocked away Maurits Kjaergaard’s swivel and shot; but Junior Adama should’ve done much more than strike straight at Kohn from less than 10 yards out.
Rade Krunic celebrates scoring his first ever Champions League and San Siro goal
Krunic heads in just seconds after the restart to double the Italian side’s lead on Wednesday
Krunic (centre) passionately celebrates his personal milestone to put Milan in control
Junior Messias came off the bench to score Milan’s fourth goal of the night in stoppage time
It was Giroud (right) again at the heart of the action, finishing with a brace and two assists
He had done the hard part getting Tomori off his back. It was the shot that was lame, and such chances must be taken to stand any chance.
The frontline profligacy was expected in such terms of game pressure but nor helpful here.
Amid this period, Giroud got in on the act, making it look like under-11s football, moving away from Solet so easily to simply glance the ball in acres of space past keeper Philipp Kohn after 14 minutes.
Sucic managed to sting Ciprian Tatarusanu’s palms before the half ceased — though the deficit still weighed upon them.
Portuguese forward Rafael Leao was a constant thorn in Salzburg’s side on the night
Ante Rebic fends off two Salzburg challenges during the Champions League encounter
Giroud carried on where he left off within 1 minute of the second half, nodding on Ante Rebic’s cross on to Rade Krunic who himself headed it home. A makeshift of human pinball in the box.
There was little doubt from this point onwards of the conclusion’s juncture, but Giroud fancied another with more than 30 minutes left, capitalising on Strahinja Pavlovic getting his feet into an almighty tangle to tap the ball into the net.
Junior Messias added a fourth in the dying stages.
As easy as you like.
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