Stefano Pioli has developed a real knack of galvanising his side and pulling them out of difficult moments, and he seems to have done it again.
La Gazzetta dello Sport recall how Milan had few difficulties against a Rennes team that promised to be full of confidence, having won eight games in a row across all competitions including every match in 2024 so far.
Milan’s 2024 hasn’t been bad either: seven victories, a draw and a defeat. A dramatic change of pace which brought the fast-paced Rossoneri to within one point of struggling Juventus in the league table.
Rafael Leao’s third goal is a symbol of maturation too as the Portuguese back-heeled the ball to Theo Hernandez and finished his return ball with a first-time finish. That heel was reminiscent of the one against Newcastle in the Champions League.
That night Milan shot 25 times towards goal without scoring. Yesterday, they had eight shots on target yielding three goals, while they hit the crossbar (again Leao) and forced a couple of fine saves from Mandanda.
In the most difficult moments of the season – namely the heavy defeats in the derby and in Paris against PSG – Milan proved to be dramatically vulnerable to transitions, incapable of recovering from a lost ball, stretched and disjointed, and of filtering in front of the defence.
Yesterday, despite the need to attack to secure a win in the home leg, they conceded very little to a team that were not only in fantastic form but also consider their strong point to be quick counter-attacks.
Th defence did not concede a goal for the second consecutive match and Mike Maignan hadn’t enjoyed two clean sheets since September-October. Whichever way you look at it, Milan appear to be growing.
Alessandro Florenzi, for example, took the place of the injured Davide Calabria and was excellent on the right side, setting up Ruben Loftus-Cheek to score as he had already done against Bologna.
The right flank has been inexorably in the shadow of the left side due to the glare of Theo and Leao, but yesterday they stood up too and showed they can contribute.
