Benfica's 2-0 victory over AC Milan at San Siro on Wednesday has been reclassified by the Portuguese club as a «cultural extraction operation», with the Lisbon side confirming that both goalposts have been removed from the stadium and are already en route to a new museum in the Portuguese capital.
The operation, overseen by a Benfica delegation that remained in Milan after the final whistle, saw the posts loaded onto a flatbed truck at 4 a.m. local time. «We felt the posts belonged to us the moment the second goal went in,» said Benfica's director of institutional memory, Rui Tavares. «Milan were very gracious about it. They even helped with the bolts.»
San Siro officials have replaced the posts with training equipment borrowed from a nearby amateur club, and Milan's next home match will be played with the understanding that any goal scored will be recorded as a «provisional goal» pending Benfica's approval.
Sparta Prague, meanwhile, have demanded their own tribute after a 4-1 win over Ararat-Armenia, requesting that the Armenian club's corner flags be delivered to Prague by Friday. Anderlecht, beaten 1-2 at home by Lyon, have been asked to hand over their dugout benches to the French club's youth academy.
The Europa League's governing body has yet to comment, though a spokesperson confirmed that a new rule is being drafted requiring visiting clubs to declare in advance whether they intend to take souvenirs.