Milan’s commanding 4-0 victory over Udinese on Friday was supposed to be a night of celebration. Goals from Rafael Leao, Strahinja Pavlovic, Theo Hernandez, and Tijjani Reijnders helped bring an emphatic end to a three-game winless run. Even Christian Pulisic nearly added a fifth, only for his goal to be ruled out due to an offside call on Tammy Abraham.
But amid the attacking fireworks, a deeply worrying moment cast a shadow over the result. With less than ten minutes gone in the second half, a collision occurred that not only silenced the stadium but also led to Milan accidentally breaching a rare Serie A regulation—a moment that could have gone unnoticed if not for its unusual consequences.
In the 52nd minute, Mike Maignan, the Rossoneri’s starting goalkeeper—and captain on the night—raced out of his area to meet a long ball. From the opposite direction came Alex Jimenez, the two colliding at high speed. The result was harrowing. The keeper hit the ground and remained motionless. Play was immediately stopped. Medical personnel rushed in. Within minutes, the stretcher was called.
Though fears initially suggested the worst, the club confirmed later that their star never lost consciousness. He was taken to a hospital in Udine for precautionary testing and kept overnight under observation. On Saturday morning, the club confirmed that all tests came back clear.
In the chaos that followed the injury, Milan reportedly made a simple, understandable mistake. Maignan had been wearing the captain’s armband, and upon being stretchered off, no one else put it on. Theo Hernandez, Milan’s vice-captain, remained on the pitch for the rest of the game and even scored the club’s third goal—but did so without wearing the armband.
That, technically, is a breach of Serie A regulations. According to league rules, teams must always have a designated captain on the pitch, and that player must wear the armband. Hernandez’s goal, therefore, marks the first time in the league’s modern era that a ‘captain’ scored without visibly being one.
The incident may have opened an obscure rulebook loophole, but for the Red and Blacks, the bigger takeaway was that their captain avoided serious injury. With a vital clash against Atalanta looming on April 20, the focus now shifts to recovery.
