Feyenoord legend Pierre van Hooijdonk put it best. His former side had arrived at San Siro "in bad shape, with many injuries and were 1-0 down after less than a minute... And then, all of a sudden, that idiot arrives!" The 'idiot' in question was AC Milan left-back Theo Hernandez, whose stupid second yellow card for simulation completely changed the complexion of Tuesday's Champions League play-off second leg.
Up until that point, Feyenoord had failed to get a foothold in the game. They were still level on aggregate thanks to their first-leg win in Rotterdam, but a second Milan goal appeared inevitable. The hosts were dominating possession and Feyenoord weren't carrying any goal threat whatsoever, which was understandable, given they'd sold their star striker, Santiago Gimenez, to Milan during the January window. Watching him open the scoring at the Giuseppe Meazza looked like a blow from which they'd never recover.
Theo's dismissal changed everything, though, and a thumping, 73rd-minute header from Julian Carranza sent Feyenoord into the last 16 - and Milan into meltdown.
The Rossoneri had sacked Paulo Fonseca and strengthened significantly in January in order to turn their season around but, on Tuesday, it only descended further into crisis, casting considerable doubt on the future of several high-profile players, the coach, Sergio Conceicao, and "the boss", Zlatan Ibrahimovic...
