Sergino Dest dropped from Milan’s Champions League squad

Sergino Dest’s hopes of helping Serie A side Milan advance in the UEFA Champions League took a major hit on Friday.

Dest was dropped from Milan’s UCL Round of 16 squad ahead of the first leg on February 14, UEFA announced Friday as all final rosters were announced. Malick Thiaw takes Dest’s place in Stefano Piolo’s squad for the upcoming two-legged showdown.

In addition, veteran striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and goalkeeper Mike Maignan were also not chosen in the squad.

The 21-year-old arrived in Milan last August on a season-long loan from Barcelona, but has been in-and-out of the squad through the last six months. Dest has made 14 combined appearances for the Bianconeri in all competitions, only totaling 90 minutes or more in three of those outings.

He missed Sunday’s 5-2 league loss to Sassuolo due to a muscular injury.

Dest started all four matches for the U.S. men’s national team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, assisting once in a 1-0 group stage victory over Iran.

Milan sits fifth in Serie A this season, 15 points behind league-leaders Napoli, but only two points behind local rivals Inter Milan for second place. Piolo’s squad will visit Inter Milan on Sunday before hosting Torino ahead of their first leg showdown with Tottenham.