Today, Milan met Borussia Dortmund in what was the second outing this preseason for the new-look rossoneri. It was a disappointing 3-1 defeat in what will be a great learning curve for Montella.
Starting XI
Storari (5.5): The second choice goalkeeper made two good saves early on to avoid Milan conceding. However, just passed the quarter hour mark, Storari should’ve saved Sahin’s side footed effort from outside the box. The veteran gave the ball away far too many times with his feet. Storari made a great last minute save to deny Mor a great goal from distance and the 40-year-old also had two wonderful saves, but they were called offsides.
Abate (5): Today’s captain was not allowed to travel forward as much as he would’ve liked, and his defensive performance wasn’t much better either.
Paletta (4.5): Paletta conceded a stupid penalty, which was converted by Aubameyang.
Zapata (5): He grew into the match, and was better than Paletta, who he partnered back there for the first 45 minutes.
Rodriguez (5.5): Overall it was an iffy match for the Swiss left back, as he was good defensively but didn’t offer much support in the attacking third, bar with a few crosses.
Kessie: (7.5, MOTM): The Ivory Coast international was tested as a regista today due to the injury of Montolivo. The youngster demonstrated his strength in the middle of the park. The ex-Atalanta man put on a Man of the Match performance with how he controlled the centre of the pitch.
Mauri (5): The Italo-Argentine put on a man of the match showing against Lugano last time out, providing two assists but this time he struggled to get going.
Bonaventura (5.5): Jack played his first match since going off injured against Udinese last January, so he was obviously a bit rusty.
Borini (5.5): The Sunderland loanee was a disappointment against Lugano and he wasn’t all that much better today. The Italian had one shot which went just wide and just started to grow into the game right before the half.
Bacca (6): Bacca pulled a goal back for Milan shortly after Aubameyang made it 2-0, with a nice little dribble then an outside of the boot effort from distance, which should have been saved by the Dortmund ‘keeper. Then, the Colombian received a pointless yellow for punting the ball up into the stands after he committed a foul.
Niang (5): It has been the same with Niang since he hit that post against Barcelona in the Champions League. Another disappointing performance from the Frenchman.
Substitutions
Calhanoglu (5.5): The set piece specialist wasn’t at the top of his game today, and his poor corner resulted in Dortmund’s third. The Turk pulled out a few great passes though!
Musacchio (6): Solid performance defensively from Mateo and he even put on a bit of a skill show!
Musacchio 🔥 pic.twitter.com/nXfZqyInWt
— Amro (@ThatBoyAmro) July 18, 2017
Sosa (6): The Argentine wouldn’t be a bad rotation player for the Rossoneri this upcoming season as he showed today with a decent outing.
Gomez (5.5): Gustavo was used as a right back today when he replaced Abate and you could tell it wasn’t his normal position. He couldn’t offer anything going forward.
Antonelli (6): The best fullback for Montella’s men today, and he nearly scored. Calhanoglu did wonderful to find Luca who was denied well.
Cutrone (5.5): The youngster came on and made an impact in the final third. He was fantastic off the ball but missed too many chances. Three minutes from time he missed a 1v1, not once but twice as the Dortmund shot stopper denied Cutrone before the defender won it back, which should’ve been a trip to the spot. Then, in the 94th minute, Patrick was denied with a great hand from the young German goalkeeper.
Zanellato (n/a): Came on too late to make a significant impact.
Gabbia (n/a): Came on too late to make a significant impact.
