AC Milan bounced back with a very impressive display against Paris Saint-Germain this evening, clinching all three points after scoring two goals. Several players did really well, including Rafael Leao, and below are the player ratings for the Rossoneri.
Starting XI
Maignan (7): He made a couple of very good saves this evening and was very calm in possession, handling the distribution just like Milan need him to. On the goal, he couldn’t do anything.
Calabria (7.5): The captain lost the very first duel against Mbappe but certainly recovered after that, keeping the PSG star at bay along with his teammates and putting in a fantastic defensive display. He also did well when going forward, such as the cross for Musah (who should have scored).
Tomori (7.5): Just like Calabria, he showed his best qualities tonight with incredibly aggressive man-marking. He ended up making many interceptions and also cleared the ball many times, leading his team from the back.
Thiaw (7): The German international proved tonight that he’s still a very talented centre-back who deserves time to grow. He remained calm in almost every situation and used his strength in the best way possible.
Hernandez (7): He showed passion tonight and was decisive for the second goal, sending a lovely cross towards Giroud. Above all, the link-up with Leao was absolutely there tonight and this helped Milan a lot.
Loftus-Cheek (7.5): A monstrous performance from the Englishman and he probably would have been the MOTM if it hadn’t been for the first goal. He actively abandoned his marking on Skriniar, while all of his teammates kept their respective marking, and that proved to be costly. But without a doubt, he was crucial tonight in the attacking and defensive phase other than that.
Reijnders (6): The Dutchman had a couple of good moments on the ball where he allowed Milan to breathe but he also made a few silly mistakes which could have hurt the Rossoneri more. He did defend well, though, so it’s certainly a pass for him.
Musah (6.5): He missed a big chance early in the first half, from close range as well. He redeemed himself afterwards, though, working tirelessly until he was subbed off and adding value above all in the defensive phase. On the ball, he was also skilful enough to play Milan out of some tricky situations.
Pulisic (6.5): We cannot complain about his work ethic, because he runs a lot and never gives up. He could have been a bit more dangerous when in possession, though, but it was certainly a good display nevertheless.
Giroud (7.5): Another great header from the veteran, who combined well with his teammates throughout the game and also was heavily involved in the first goal with a good shot. Keep it up, Ollie.
Leao (8 – MOTM): Today, he worked hard in both phases of the game and it paid off. The first goal was all his from the beginning and that finish was just what he needed. He continued to cause PSG trouble throughout the game and finally showed up for the Rossoneri.
Substitutes
Krunic (6): He did what was needed in the defensive phase but not much more.
Okafor (6.5): He forced Donnarumma to an incredible save straight after coming on and looked decent on the ball.
Florenzi (N/A): He didn’t play enough to get a rating.
This is the Milan we want to see every game. I don’t know why we always show our real quality when we are under pressure.
About the ratings. I think RLC and Mike should be 8
What about Captain Calenria?
Ohh yeah him too
I think it’s just a matter of motivation
No just motivation for Milan.
The reason we USUALLY (yes it’s a common occurrence going back over a decade) struggle against teams like Udinese is because these teams are motivated to play against us AND play without pressure.
They’ve got a huge advantage which is why any drop in level, any delayed pass, any missed chances, any mistake at the back – can cost us the game, and in turn it is THESE games that determine where we finish in the league.
THESE games need to be treated like finals.
Against the likes of PSG you win some/you lose some but BOTH teams are playing with pressure and tend to be more open.
It’s a completely different dynamic.
My focus is always on the league. The champions league is a bonus. I’d take the Scudetto over it because the best team wins.
This is all spot on.
Milan seems to lack motivation for the ‘smaller games’ and Pioli’s plan to break them down, generally doesn’t work.
I was most impressed by Leao’s attitude last night. He’s looks a different level when he drops back as an immediate outlet for the defense and using his speed to create chaos. I want to see this from him every game. RLC is the driving force in that midfield. The key will be to keep him fit and Musah looks like he can run for 180 mins. He is quick; naive, but quick and can only improve.
I would have liked to have seen Chuk come on for Pulisic and probably 10 mins earlier. Florenzi was a negative imo and put us on the backfoot. He shouldn’t really be anywhere near the first team.
Maldini’s Heir sums it up perfectly. It’s up to us to match these lower team’s levels when they come out like rabid dogs against us. That’s always been a big problem with not just Pioli but most of our managers. Ancelotti won the CL in 2007 but finished fourth in the league that season.
And people say injuries are an excuse… RLC comes back and we’re a different side. I agree Pioli has made mistakes, even against Napoli and especially against Udinese but injuries have 100% impacted our results the last month.
If we could overhaul Milan Lab we’d win the league every year!
I don’t think Milan lab is the issue, most of the players we got this season are injury prone if we are to be sincere. RLC is a great player when fit but he missed 62 games for Chelsea due to injury. Captain America can’t play 5 games straight without having a knock etc.
How to manage these players is what they should focus on, if we rotate rightly, we get to keep them fit and available
RLC yes I agree. But Pulisic couldn’t it also be his playing style. His sharp turn. I remember Former Barcelona coach, Valverde made a statement in a press conference to a Barca player who got injured, ‘you can’t make a sharp turn at that speed. You will get injured.
But Milan lab should be able to do more to help them
It’s not just this season, this is going on 4 years now of being the most injury prone team in football. It’s a problem. It’s not the players.
Great team work
I never felt intense like that from the beginning of the season, such a relief, great game!.
RLC was superb, was so needed in the mid.
And Musah gonna be special
No wonder both the current management and the previous management want to sign RLC. Lets hope he can stay fit.
Three words: They showed up!
Fire Pioli!
Come on, man, give the credit when it is deserved. After that abysmal performance against Udinese, he was under pressure from all side and sent his best team. Praise his team selection and tactical change.
I think it’s called sarcasm.
It is, and this one game isn’t redemption either. But great match by the team and Pioli played his part in enabling. We still have 2/3 of a season left, so let’s see how we do moving forward.
How about overall performance over 4 years?
Is that enough for us to back the coach?
@Maldini’s Heir
So the question is really has Pioli enhanced the performance of the squad, or has that performance been held back by Pioli. In other words, do we underperform with him, or overperform? Is he maxing out the squad?
Last season it might have been argued that Pioli was doing the best that he could with a squad that had some serious deficiencies. BTW, we finished 5th per the results on the pitch. To go from 1st to 5th with a technically stronger squad than the scudetto year ought to be a fireable offense. Enter the summer and a big transfer campaign to add depth and quality. Then until last night, we were in crisis. So was last season’s squad deficient, or was it the coach? According to your own philosophy, transfers are useless, so it must have been the coach.
Where was this type of performance against Paris before? It seems this group of players has it within them to play like this. Why don’t they do it consistently? Why does Pioli have such a dismal record against Inter? Why do we struggle against teams that play 3-5-2 (5-3-2) and sit in a low block generally? Why do we suffer a blackout month every season around January/February (this season it seems to have come in October, which may or may not bode well for January)?
You never know, just 2 words aren’t enough to tell apart sarcasm. Even though we won, some people were criticizing Pioli’s substitutions.
I like Pioli. He does do some things that are a bit bizarre. But hard to think of someone better for the job that is available now.
He finally use different approach by not insisting on high defensive line which left us vulnerable against strong opponents. There is no need to fire him if he keep being flexible.
I hope we will play the same way against Dortmund and Newcastle. The passion and grit were there.
Fans 10/10, the coach prepared well this time 🤣🤣🤣
Guess he prepared well in 3 days more than in 7 days lol. The power of critical situation.
we lost to Udinese because of the preparation for this match…. Theo, pulisic and RLC were given full rest despite being match fit keeping the first two outta match list and other players were also seen low in energy
It happens fairly often that teams lose matches either side of champions league fixtures.
The key period in the league is after the group stage closes.
What a game from all the players. LEAO AND LOFTUS WERE EXTRAORDINARY. Why can´t we play this vertical every game. This Pioli, this is exactly what we want!
Now I think Calabria doesn’t get the credit he deserves tonight. Hats off to him, I’m always critical of him, but tonight? Oh, my… Captain performance. Man shut Mbappe up…
RLC, monster.
No player like Leao in word football right now, only him lowers his standards and gives room for criticism. Man made Hakimi and teammates look like upcoming players.
Giroud – Form is temporary, class is permanent.
Reijnders was our weakest link in midfield, I was always scared whenever he held the ball, and his marking was really poor tonight.
As always, Milan Till the Fvcking Casket!
Calabria is tactically very good and has a heart. He played against Kvara 4 times last season and silenced him 4 times. Now had a very good show against Mbappe
Big Win!
I know RLC lost his man on that corner but he was an absolute BEAST tonight. Best player on the pitch by a mile. You can see what a difference he makes and why Milan struggled without him.
Leao was electric and his decision making was much better tonight. Tracking back as well.
Good job by the defense all around. Calabria has really redeemed himself in the last few matches. Credit to him.
Best game so far and in a really crucial moment.
This is the Rafael leao I want match by match.
Loftus Cheek and Musah were very good tonight.
Finally, FINALLY a performance we can be proud of. Great team effort, every one gets a passing grade. We outplayed PSG and defended incredibly well. A well-deserved win. Now, we just need to do this more often and take this belief into Serie A and the remaining UCL games.
Great game. Great performance. Leao dropping back to mark was great.
The entire team play well. I think Musa, RLC and Tijani midfield combo is perfect.
Loftus Cheek played the best game of his life. MVP of the game. He was bulldozing past every PSG player.
Leao was awesome in the 1st half.
The rest were good at defending.
Someone must have gotten into Pioli’s ear and told him maybe you should try parking the bus vs. a team that likes to dominate the possession and hit them on the counter instead of the only tactic you know high press and counter.
Hopefully that strategy will work vs Newcastle and Dortmund.
You never really like Leao, the real MVP today, this rating was rightfully accorded, Loftus was fantastic, but his defensive error led to the goal. All in all great team work, saying Leao was good in the first half is a disservice to his contribution.
Ha ha 😂.
Tell me you are a fan boy without telling me that you are a fan boy.
I gues I didn’t praise leao enough for your liking.
Leao was awesome in the 1st half, not so much in the 2nd half. He lost most of his dues and misplaced the majority of his passes. But at least he helped defensively.
Loftus Cheek made a mistake on the PSG goal but besides that he was great throughout the whole game offensively and defensively.
BTW even the author of this article had to point out that Leao played well because that isn’t something that happens regularly. “Several players did really well, including Rafael Leao”.
And you are right, I like players that perform every week , not once a month or so. He even had the nerve to shush his own fans after scoring a goal . Something that he hadn’t done in a month and a half.
I’ll try to praise Leao extra special the next goof game he has. Let’s hope you don’t have to wait a month and a half for that.
Lol some people mistake critique for hating
To be faire to Leao, he was way more mature and defensively responsible than he usually is, and while he didn’t shine as much in the second half, he was able to help shutting down Hakimi and wasn’t that far from getting some psg players red carded.
I think this was a great game by him, but it’s really a shame that he doesn’t play to this level more often. Too often, he’s absent and just manage to pull off a magic trick to get a passing grade.
I just hope that he took note of his own game and will play like this on a consistent basis.
Yes, but that’s the crux of the matter, what works against PSG doesn’t necessarily work against Dortmund or Newcastle. Like you said, and like I said in the after match article, Pioli refrained from the suicidal press against PSG and it was the right thing to do, but it might work against Dortmund. I think we can reasonably expect to control the ball against Dortmund, just maybe not push everyone forward in a mad quest to score, which would open us up to counters.
Big win!
I know RLC lost his man on the corner but he was an absolute BEAST tonight. Best player on the pitch. You can see what a difference he makes and why Milan has struggled without him
Leao was electric and better decision making.
Defense was great all around. Calabria has redeemed himself lately. Credit to him.
Funny how much better the team looks without Krunic in there.
Back in it. On to the next one.
Guess for pioli is off the hook for now.
It’s always his thing isn’t it.
When milan were in a slump, he somehow managed to save his own neck with a couple of wins and positive performances.
And then milan would back to negative period again, so on and so forth.
However i still believe milan should replace pioli.
He’s beyond his peak, he already overachieved with milan.
His limitations kept showing here and there.
Even tonight, i got a feeling if he could he would keep the starting 11 playing all the 90 minutes since he’s too scared to change anything and made mistakes when milan lead.
I don’t know if you have ever been involved in some kind of coaching/ team management at any level. Because there are sometimes you really don’t want to change it and leave it like that. Even the commentators ( UK viewer) were saying, who do you change? They are all playing great.
against napoli, after 2-0 lead, many said its pioli fault to subs pulisic with romero. when he doesnt change anything until 70 minutes, he got blamed too.
I think its true haters gonna hate
Pioli should go… Yes, we won PSG, only tweak needed was not starting Krunic…..
Pioli his reached his technical peak .. we will continue to see splashes of team play, individual brilliance but dis team will not grow … Winning PSG was a form of player reaction to d boos vs Udinese… Honestly it had nothing to do with Pioli
Whereas the “technical peak” of the manager in your imagination is as unlimited as your, well, imagination.
What a group this has proven to be.
7, 6, 5, 4 points.
I bashed Pioli a lot for not playing with a 4-3-3 last season which I thought suited the players at his disposal better. He stubbornly stuck with the 4-2-3-1. Fast forward to summer Mercato, and with much say delegated to Pioli, he’s signing players for a 4-3-3. I mean why not use the opportunity to tune your team to your favoured 4-2-3-1.?
Now I’m just waiting for the ‘5 things we learned’. Cos I hope Pioli learnt the one thing he needs to learn all season, PLAY YOUR FAVOURED 4-2-3-1. !! Daammnn !!
Dont mind the old man, he doesn’t know football now is not about trying your luck, …with that stupid formation.
How I wish I have Toneli in this team for Tijaniiis
What a stupid statement. You’d rather have someone who can’t play because he is suspended for being a degenerate gambler. Really?
Defensively Tonali is better. But on the ball, Reijnders is a class above, better vision and tactical intelligence.
I disagree because he doesn’t have an intellect of a very good player. Also, Tonali can play one touch football all game and has flashes of an elite player(his first game for Newcastle was 10/10) long but every time Reijnders does a long pass he stops, slows down, looks around too long, After seeing him playing for the last 4 games we know why no one wanted him before us. He is just ok for the current situation.
also Tonali can shoot
Stop with the Tonali nonsense. He was way overrated. Within 5 games at Newcasltle he had already lost his starting spot. Plus he’s a complete idiot. Thank God we got rid of him. Just imagine the shambles this team would be in right now if we kept him and didn’t bring in these other players. Best business Milan has done.
in fact pioli doesnt change the formation. in fact he uses 4-3-3 in theory but on the pitch its change into 4-2-3-1 even when we lose. he often use reijnder to be attacking midfield but because when we lost, people always look for blame and blame pioli for the formation even when its the same.
dont look only at formation lineup. football nowadays is more flexible than that. Pioli is used the same system, but the difference sometimes in the result.
for against the psg its the same 433 from pioli withthe difference ussually reijnder become the treq when attacking but now RLC who become the number 10. and its more effective because reijnder i think more suitable on regista position because of his lack on his finishing
And the decisive difference for this match its not the formation. its the defence system because pioli is a little more defensive using low block, not try pushing the failed high defensive line that only suitable for opponent with weak offense
RLC was man of the match for me.
Krunic “did what was needed in the defensive phase but not much more.” when we’re holding onto a 2:1 lead in a crucial Champions League game deserves more than a 6 (and not the snarky bit after the ‘but’).
We win as a team, and lose as a team.
Agreed, RLC MOTM, despite the lost marking of Skriniar, Leao 2nd (why can’t he help in defense like this every game?), Musah 3rd, Tomori 4th. Really the only “disappointing” performance was Reijnders, but that dude has been playing every match and my guess is that he needs a break.
💯 The difference he made tonight was unreal… I pray he stays healthy.
The only person that loves Krunic more than Pioli, maybe they are a trio…. When you are up 2-1 you want to keep pushing for scoring and good midfielder would still offer something in attack, something that Krunic will never do
Right, of all the great performances, this weirdo brings up and highlights Krunic and his 12 minutes of play haha maybe Stefano does in fact post here…
Please remove Krunic from d team… I can bet he will always do d ordinary…but to be a winner, dis team needs something more than d ordinary….. Musah brought d thing from d start….. Pioli is just fixated with mediocrity….
Great result with great performances all around. For me, it all starts with the midfield. If they perform, the play is much more organised and fluid. I’ve been very critical of our midfield this season but tonight Musah and Reijnders were much better and Loftus Cheek was an absolute beast. Leao showed up, he and Giroud were decisive and worked really hard off the ball as well. Maignan and the defense were rock solid but a stand out and my man of the match would have to be Calabria. He’s been amazing the last few games and finally gets rewarded with a win.
A big shout out to Pioli. It was a ballsy approach but we looked like a very well prepared team mentally and tactically. Hopefully we build on this. Forza Milan!
Loftus Cheek simply gorgeous, despite his failure in their goal. He amply compensated for that by being together with Leao the co-MOTM; he did everything and provided verticality, dynamism, and physicality. And that, coming from long injury absence. Uncanny! What a performance!
Leao was absolutely devastating tonight, playing like the great one he is; if only he were more consistent… But hey, this was too good! Like I always say, Leao can disappear and suddenly score or assist. Today he didn’t even disappear. He was a full participant and indeed played much better than his counterpart Mbappé.
Calabria has been excellent lately. Go Captain!
Thiaw who made some big mistakes against top teams in the recent past, tonight was absolutely perfect. No-nonsense defense, getting the ball out of there, stopping the very good PSG forwards with ease. Tomori by the way did exactly the same thing.
Seems like Theo is back. Gorgeous assist to Giroud, gorgeous free kick that should have been a score if not for an excellent save by Donnarumma. He’d have scored that free kick against the vast majority of other goalies tonight. We hate Donnarumma but he is indeed world class, being so tall and with such a huge arm reach.
Puli is visibly not in top shape but he does have his big work rate that keeps the defenders busy, opening space for Leao; they can’t afford to tripple-team Leao when Pulisic is moving on the right. I hope he is not injured again. I’m worried. He is very important to us.
Pioli: finally, finally the right strategy against a top team: fall back, sit back, defend well, concede possession, and counter. We could have had a draw in Paris if we had played like that. We could have had a draw against Inter and not a humiliating 5-1 defeat. We can’t play all open and pressing high against teams that have fast and physical counters like PSG and Inter.
Now we need to beat Dortmund and Newcastle. We outplayed them in both first legs but couldn’t score. Let’s hope for the next two games we do score and come out of this Group of Death.
Gorgeous performance tonight.
It’s uncanny. We have a putrid performance against horrible Udinese, one of the worst Serie A teams this season, then 3 days latter we have a gorgeous perfomance against PSG, one of the best teams in the world. Talk about inconsistency!
I’m glad that common sense in Pioli prevailed with the sit deep and counter approach…
The problem with Pioli is that only when his back is against the wall and his job is in jeopardy will he make the practical decision and play sensibly. Like benching Krunic and play counter attacking football, which is what this team is built for. When he’s not in fear for his job he tries to force this team to be something it’s not. He wants to be like Man City and play a high line and be a possession type team, but this team does not have the players for that. What they are and what they were when we won the Scudetto is a very dangerous counter attacking team. Hopefully he will learn.
This was our best performance of the year, I think, and it shows precisely how well this team can play. It’s why I’m so critical of Pioli. Because if we play like this consistently we have the possibility of challenging for the scudetto and going deep in the CL. It’s proof that we have the quality, and getting us to be consistent is precisely Pioli’s task as a manager.
I think this game showed that we should accept to play a bit more defensively against strong teams.
Tonight (and during our UCL compaign last season) we did give away possession in most of our wins.
I think we’re not as suited for a highline possession game as we think we are.
No Krunic, no problem!!!!!
Amen haha
it’s as if someone told Leao, you should be one of the stars people always rave about.. no how you should allow Mbappe and co, come and take the spotlight in your own backyard.
2. You can see why Costacuta once labelled Calabria one of the best defenders in a 1 V 1 matchup.
3. I think Pioli made the right call with Musah in the hole. As others have said, RLC was a beast and others played at a very high level.
By the way, does Pioli actually practice finishing with these guys?.The amount of chances we waste is alarming. 😅 But great game overall.
It’s not even the finishing, because many of these shots are on target, but about taking a touch to control the ball and then placing it. I’ve seen so many occasions where a player receives the ball in the box with a little bit of time but then the shot is rushed. Musah’s chance is a prime example. He could have taken one touch to settle the ball and then placed it into one of the bottom corners. Instead he one time’s it straight to Donnarumma. This is not a technical issue, but a mental one.
Could be 6-1 if Musah, Tomori, Theo, and Okafor scored. But Donna made three great saves for Theo and Tomori free kick and Okafor shoot.
Overall this is a great performance and probably one of Milan best for this season.
I just hope Pulisic and Leao are okay though. I can’t imagine if they got injured especially Pulisic who just recovered.
And Skriniar should be red. He made two very nasty tackle against Leao and Okafor / Giroud. The referee gave a lot of ‘it’s okay’ for PSG. Unbelieveable 🤬
Let’s be realistic here, PSG has incredible chances in the 1st half.
2-1 was a fair reflection of the game or perhaps 3-2
It’s true. It could have been 3-3 or even 4-3 for either team. Like Enrique said after the match, it was more like a tennis game than a football match, but I think that made it highly entertaining.
Scored 6 goals against PSG is still in the realm of possible. Now if i’m saying we could win 30-1 against PSG then you could say “let’s be realistic here”.
Well if you are going to give us a goal for every chance we had, you also have to do the same for the other team. Mbappe was in on goal twice and missed. Dembele also hit one off the crossbar. But yes, Milan need to be better at finishing.
Skriniar no doubt should have collected a red. It’s incredible how he commits a tactical foul on L-C and is given a pass, no yellow. Then he does it again much worse, as last defender against Leao, gets a yellow but it should have been his second yellow/red. Furthermore, it should have been a straight red as he was the last defender. Now, when Musah does it he immediately collects a yellow (and will miss the Dortmund game which is no good because he’s been much better than Krunic). When Thiaw does it against Juve (last man tactical foul) he immediately collects a straight red. To tell you the truth, I’d say it’s racism. White players get away with a lot while black players, the smallest violation, it’s a yellow or even a red. I mean, the decision to give Musah a yellow tonight and to give Thiaw a red against Juve were correct. The problem is not that. The problem is, when white players do it, they don’t get the cards. It’s how European refs call it differently if the player is white or black that I find very suspicious. I’ve been paying attention to this across several games, and yes, there seems to be a bias.
You should look up the term “confirmation bias”. It’s a real thing, and I suspect you might have it. That being said, I suppose you could be right.
Skriniar wasn’t the last man in that situation tonight. There were 2/3 other PSG players right around the scene. This is why I think you might be looking for things to confirm your suspicions.
Anyways, I agree that he could (or should) have gotten a yellow for the foul on RLC.
Don’t be condescending. I know what confirmation bias is. It’s possible. I thought Skriniar was the last man, maybe not. It’s possible that I unconsciously thought so out of confirmation bias. But the thing is, that would at the very least be his second yellow because he did deserve one for the foul on L-C like you’ve acknowledged yourself. Musah on the other hand got one immediately. So objectively the ref didn’t apply the same criterion. We got Tomori out before Inter, on two very soft yellows while some white players on the pitch had worse fouls that weren’t sanctioned. I’ve seen Rafa get yellows for minor dissent and some white players yell at the ref without being sanctioned.
My bad.
One thing I’d say about the first Skriniar foul is that it was judgement call for the ref. I was surprised he didn’t get one, but have watched enough football to not be completely surprised. The yellow Musah got was a “have to give it” type yellow.
Also, if Skriniar got a yellow (as he probably should have) for the first one, the second one probably doesn’t happen, so we can’t automatically assume he would’ve been sent off.
Either way, I get your point. I’m going to keep an eye out for what you’re talking about and see if I notice anything in the next little while.
I think it’s not racism and more like favoritism for certain clubs. We all know FIFA & UEFA have a huge boner for big clubs with tons of money like PSG, CIty, Madrid, or Barca. That’s why they always put some referee who will make biased decisions for those clubs. Not to mention FIFA & UEFA are corrupt too.
But it occurs in Serie A too, between two Italian teams. It’s not just UEFA or FIFA.
I know this is a Milan fan site, but this post is probably as 1 sided as humans and chatgpt can output alike.
PSG hit the post twice. It was a fair, very hard earned win. And next time just make it 9-1 while you are at it.
MBappe’s miss was a good omen for Milan, as usually he puts those away. But you could tell that it would be an uncharacteristic night for PSG after some of their misses.
You’re the chatgpt so STFU
Your mama is the chatGPT!
There’s just no denying it. Our midfield looks next level with RLC. That physicality and pace pushing forward was sorely missed. RLC was easily the MOTM for me. I still think Reijnders, Bennacer and RLC will be a stellar trio.
The team stepped up across the board today. Everyone raises their level and contributions. I hope this win is the catalyst to believe in ourselves more and fight EVERY GAME.
FORZA MILAN ⚫️🔴
Excellent post, and I’ve been saying that we got much worse once L-C got injured. Maybe we wouldn’t have had this crisis if he had remained healthy, and Reijnders wouldn’t have been so exhausted with his companion there pushing forward and allowing Reijnders to be more of a static playmaker with no need to overextend himself so much. He’s been visibly tired. And Pulisic, even when he doesn’t play well, he bothers the left back and the left-sided center back, so that the opponents can’t triple-team Rafa, who plays much better when Puli is there. Maybe our dip in form is more related to the high number of injuries than we thought. For one thing, I’d like to see the entire medical and training department to be fired. We need to hire some competent doctors and trainers. We have way too many muscle injuries, enough to derail our fight for the Scudetto and for a deep CL run. It doesn’t help if we sign could players but they can’t perform because they get repeatedly injured.
I agree that REIJNDERS has been overused. He is started every single game. I don’t care how how young you are – playing that often will catch up to you. He needs a rest. As will Musah eventually. But I would argue RLC was the best purchase this summer.
RLC is very good, yes. But Reijnders is too; he’s just too tired now. Sure, he can’t finish, but other than that, he is a very good player. And Pulisic. When healthy he is extraordinary. So I think the best purchases this summer were three: R L-C, Reijnders and Pulisic.
Musah is promising and will grow.
I just hope Chuk doesn’t become a bust. He’s the only one who has never truly contributed – I mean, other than Jovic that is; Jovic is useless. But maybe Chuk will grow too; Serie A is tough and players coming from outside the league often need up to a year to adapt. Given that some of the other players had an immediate impact, we got impatient with Chuk.
Luka Romero and Pellegrino are too green. They need a loan to get more playing time elsewhere.
Okafor has been irregular but at times he contributes. He’s another one who may need some time to adapt to Serie A.
Sportiello was also a very good signing. He is a suitable deputy to Maignan, a big upgrade over Tatarusanu. So I’d say at least 4 of the summer signings had an immediate impact. That’s way more than what can be said about the previous summer mercato, when only Thiaw paid off.
I really missed Bennacer. I hope he regains his form quickly after recovery. A very interesting trio to anticipate
Hahaha I called it!! When our backs are up against the wall we find a way!! Leao, if you work hard like this every game there’s no doubt you can be world class. People get frustrated at you because we see the potential.
Calabria, true captains performance! From the previous leg and his outbirst he has since been solid, today was the best he’s played! Defence was all very organized and good!
Loftus cheek showed how important he is and how much we missed him,he truly balances the midfield and makes the whole team more organized.
This is the level we need to be showing every game, way too inconsistent and I hope this Kickstart our season! We have a real shot now at qualifying and its all to play for the next game. I saw the transitions into a 4 2 3 1 and it was a lot more direct and made us play much better. Please guys build on this! Tonight you made everyone happy and let’s keep it going. Forza milan!
Excellent effort today from everyone. The defense was very solid, RLC proved he’s essential, Giroud is still going strong, Okafor almost scored 2x immediately after coming in.
So why can’t we play like this all the time? I think Pioli simply struggles against smaller teams who sit back because he doesn’t have a proper attacking strategy and his rotation is not great (squad depth is still not that great tbf).
That said, he performs well against all big teams except for Inter. Can he come up with something so we can beat weak teams like Udinese?
Giroud needs a rest and Okafor needs more minutes… Seems like a common sense decision. Let’s see if Pioli rotates this weekend.
this is what missing from the last couple of match. as they’ve found it. now it’s a test to keep going like this.
RLC is a game changer, if only he didn’t injured last two weeks
RLC stepped up big time, good for him, let’s hope he stays healthy. Now onto Dortmund in a must win. Too bad we won’t have Musah.
As someone said above, RLC became a game-changer to us. And when Rafa deliver the goods, well, it’s really something.
It’s funny some ppl only show up in the comments after a loss to blast Leao and cry that Maldini isn’t around.
I was nervous the whole game but I have to admit Pioli got his tactics right for the most part. That said it always feels like this team can lose its concentration at any time…
Good, proud of the team!
Well done!!!
Man what a game and what a shake up to the group….had to watch the second half later on smh but man was that tense. This is now gonna be a crazy ending if we also beat Dortmund (which I believe we can). I loved Reinjders’ defence tonight, fantastic. This is what he needs to add to his game. I think he got bad rating for his attacking side (which again he can’t score to save his life). RLC was a beast but unfortunately he missed his defensive duties.on that goal.. otherwise man he was solid. Calabria is an underrated defender. I know ppl here complain about him but he did absolutely fantastic against the world’s best and also Kvara. Give him props where it is due. Tomori had a splendid night quietly. Everyone did well. The change in the formation certainly helped. Reverting back to the 4231 made sooo much sense as it allowed the pivots to double more easily towards the wing and also freed up Theo who we noticed had one of his games again. And thank goodness we parked the bus in the last 20mins.. sometimes we just gotta do what we gotta do..I’m sooo happy for how we played ☺️😀😀
Also I saw Leao defending late on..was great to watch.. that’s also what he needs to add to his game. See the 3 points off. And he was positioning himself very well too.
Still not a better performance than the first half against Napoli – the technical skill was at the highest level and the passing – but it was still very good, nevertheless. Great team effort all around!
Now questions must be asked: Why is Milan such a Jekyll and Hyde team? And which Milan will show up in the next game? The very good one that played tonight and in the first half against Napoli or the horrible team that lost to Udinese?
Tonight was EXCELLENT. RLC was SUPER. THAT’S THE LEAO I WANT TO SEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Calabria. What drug was he taking???? F***ing monster!
Okafor, more for him!
Krunic and Adli are trash. What a difference RLC makes. If Pulisic has done his hamstring, he’s out for 6 weeks.
RLC was simply beautiful, Leao was in the mood amd Calabria really tried to keep up with Mbappe. We missed a couple of sitters, which you have to put away at this level… the game management was nervy at times. I would prefer we press a bit more and capitalise on mistakes which we benefit from on a few occasions because without pressing you allow your opponents to dictate play which could be dangerous with a mobile team like PSG (anyone of those defense splitting passes could have hurt us). But good to see some response from Milan, we hope they improve on this performance going forward.
WE ARE AC MILAN.
A great win.. hat off to the team and Pioli in this match..
Hope this prformance continue..
Are we gonna discuss the fact Pioli left Pulisic (who had just return from a muscle isseu) on the field for way too long, having him injured in the freaking 90th minute?! (and more likely losing him for more than a month)…
Yes that was just poor management, even the panel on CBS flagged that.
Aside from saving Pulisic, we needed fresh legs, Okafor and Chucky were good options to bring on and attack on the counter
Yes, Pulisic is a very good player but probably one who cannot play the full 90 minutes, especially coming off an injury. Should’ve been subbed off earlier. Pioli will have to manage him better. 75 minutes may be his max.
Bench krunic and we win. Injured krunic then Milan enjoy 1st position like before internationals break 🤣
RLC was key tonight – everything good came from him – he made the midfield tick like a Swiss watch – keep him fit and we play like this – MOTM for me – no question
RLC – MOTM – no question
Also, Skrinjar could have had 3 yellows and a straight red last night – the guy is an animal who’s only intent is to foul – luckily Giroud and RLC didn’t pick up injuries from his challenges. His game level is similar to Razor Ruddock or Vinnie Jones..
Very good performance! Hats off to the boys!
Although there are things to be considered: Florenzi lost 9 out of 10 duels against Bradley. If he came in earlier, certainly PSG would score from his flank. Also whenever he has the ball, he immediately goes for random long pass and lose the ball. Pioli needs to have a talk with him. Losing too many balls will cause big issues.
Other than that, everything was great.
Team needed this win most
I agree – Floenzi should be sold to serie b/c oufit asap
Froza milan we need to get the remaining two match won and get to the next round but to be honest you guy need to work harder
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GUYS NEWS BENNECAR IS GOING TO START AGAINST NEWCASTLE——
Man of the match for me was leao but the second RLC leao and RLC was the reason for the 2 goals RLC WAS A MONSTER LEAO DID HIS SECOND BYCICLE KICK THIS GUY IS A MONSTER I CANT IMAGINE IF WE HAVE BOUGHT NICOLAS I CANT IMAGINE THE TEAM NICOLAS BENNECAR AND RLC AND MORE OF THAT YACINE ADLI IS SEEN MORE AS A CM NOT A CDM HIS PASSES ARE MAMA MIA
FORZA MILAN 🐐🔴⚫️
NO FORZA TO INTER🗑🗑🗑
Was i dreaming or did i see leao defend in numerous occasions. Maybe him and theo need to sit deeper in games and just let leao do those surging runs. Amazing to watch. Weve missed loftus! His strength, runs and goal threat. Just shit at marking set pieces 😂😂 keep loftus fit! Okafor needs more game time. Needs to take pulisics place if hes out for a bit.
We have more balance when Musah plays on LCM because he does defensive duties better than Reijnder so Leao dan Theo are comfortable to attack. The problem is Reijnder will be limited as regista, So I think we should go back to 4231 with Reijnder and Musah as duo midfielder. Musah on left DM. RLC as AMC because he can hold up the ball and long shoot.
Leo drives me nuts. Doesn’t see the whole game.
He doesn’t understand the word “team”.
Now we need to start playing Chuck and Okafor on the wings with Jovic in the centre against the smaller teams.
Same movements same system, but okayers who are motivated to show why they should start in the big games. That’s how you rotate, rest AND develop players, while keep getting results.
Napoli and Juve were games where the results didn’t go our way, but the Udinese game was terrible. Between fitness and motivation, the stars didn’t show up. Against PSG we saw the level they have.
It’s always easy to say in retrospect, but I stead of changing the systemz rest the top players from the start and let them come on for the last half hour to try and get the result of the B-squad hasn’t done the job. We do not have the depth to play the same 11 game in and game out, fatigue, suspensions and injuries will topple the tower -We have to use the rotation players to rest Giroud andeao – pir two main outlets, one of them at 37 snd the ither with a certain unprofessional attitude issue.
Let Jovic, Okafor and Chucky start against Lecce, in front of RLC, Adli and Musah, with Theo and Calabria on the full backs. Keep the movements and pressure instructions as they are, and let the alternative attacking trip get game time with the other starters and each other.