AC Milan beat Bologna by a goal to nil at San Siro on Sunday night, a second Serie A win of the season and the first at home.
Coming back from the international break, Milan needed to start the season again as they left it, rather than how they started it. So, the winning form had to continue, and it did. The game as a whole was rather tame.
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However, a Luka Modric strike set the sides apart in the 60th minute; a cool finish, exactly like him as a player. It could have been doubled in the late stages of the game; however, a foul on Christopher Nkunku, initially deemed to be a penalty, was rescinded.
There’s plenty to say about the game and performances, so let’s dive into the five things we learnt from the game.
1. Identity crisis
Milan failed to bring in a new striker before the transfer window closed. This means Santiago Gimenez has a chance to silence the critics and get back to scoring ways.
Unfortunately, the Mexican continues to struggle in front of the goal, though, as his confidence has completely faded and he badly needs to get that one goal that might get him going. Against Bologna, his first touch let him down on multiple occasions. When it did not, he was indecisive in front of the goal and couldn’t bury the chance.
The issue is most definitely a mental one, given he has scored plenty of goals with Feyenoord, and we know for a fact he is capable of controlling a ball and putting it into the back of the net.
However, the Rossoneri pressure seems to be getting to him, and he needs to isolate himself from the noise and focus on keeping it simple, as he has been a bit too eager as of late. Something which has noticeably resulted in him overcomplicating simple decisions and missing big chances.
On the bright side, he did get into several good positions, but patience is running out.
2. Instant impact
Following the Bologna game, there should be no questions as to why Massimiliano Allegri wanted Adrien Rabiot with the Diavolo. The Frenchman started the game after barely training with his new teammates, but fitted right in nonetheless.
With Modric and Rabiot in that midfield, it was night and day compared to previous Milan games. The Frenchman won lots of aerial duels, carried the ball forward on various occasions and then, towards the end, dictated the tempo well and helped his team control the game, sealing the three points. Traits that have not been seen often.
The quality Rabiot brought to the squad is evident from the get-go, not that it comes as a surprise, and Allegri knows exactly how to get the best out of the midfield. One would hope that it only gets better from here on.
3. Like fine wine
It seems we’ll be discussing Modric a lot throughout the season and with good reason. The Croatian played the whole game and never really stopped running. He scored the match-winner with a lovely finish, but before that, he was already the best Rossoneri player on the pitch.
He dictated the game very well, and having Rabiot next to him really helped too. He also helped a ton defensively, with lots of interceptions and then carried the ball well in transition.
On top of that, he was a true leader on the pitch as he urged the fans to cheer Gimenez as he was subbed off to try and improve the Mexican’s morale, whilst he is in a tough spot, which is a characteristic that Milan players have been missing last season.
4. Allegri’s defence on display
The Diavolo could’ve easily scored a few more goals, and the scoresheet might not paint the full picture, mainly because Bologna were neutralised to perfection by the Rossoneri. As seen by the fact that the away side had 0 shots on goal and 0 big chances.
📊 The stats from the win against Bologna pic.twitter.com/ZW6bPlbCvl
— MilanData📊 (@acmilandata) September 14, 2025
Milan’s back three did very well, whilst the midfield dictated the tempo, and the whole management of the game was excellent.
Alexis Saelemaekers did well on the right as he was active in both phases of the game and had a big part in the win, as he provided the assist for Modric.
Pervis Estupinan was also on a higher level compared to his previous 2 games in Serie A; he was much more solid at the back and in possession. The Ecuadorian was a bit unlucky too, as he hit the post and was denied his first goal in red and black.
It all boils down to the fact that the Diavolo played as a unit – they knew when to press, when to up the tempo and when to slow things down. This is the football the fans should expect from Allegri’s side.
5. Almost brilliant from the bench
Not everybody was having a great game, with the two lowest-rated players being Gimenez and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Despite Leao’s injury, however, Allegri had enough firepower to call upon, as he brought both Christian Pulisic and Nkunku on in the second half, with the duo having an instant impact on the game.
Nkunku should’ve really won a penalty for his team after his initial contact with the ball, but refereeing controversies aside, he did well following that situation too, as he was able to showcase his technique and ability to play in tight spots.
Given that he has not played first-team football as of late, it was quite impressive.
Then, Pulisic was also on fire as he was constantly terrorising the Bologna defence. He probably should’ve gotten an assist or two had it not been Gimenez’s poor finishing. The American also played Nkunku through for the penalty.
Overall, it was exactly what you’d expect from attackers with fresh legs from the bench, and both did their part really well.
If Pulisic is only going to get 20 minutes per game we will lose one of our best players. It should be Puli and Leao front 2. Or Puli and Nkunku. RLC should be coming off the bench.
Pulisic didn’t play cuz of jet lag, there’s no way allegri will leave him out
It’s still too early to judge this team but it was a very positive match; three points in the bag, a solid defensive performance, and a lot of chances created. I am not worried about Gimenez. He is low on confidence but he worked hard and got into many dangerous positions. A goal will calm him down. Modric has been fantastic (no surprise) and will bring out the best in others. It will be interesting to see how the team looks like when everybody is fit/up to speed.
I agree on the one hand. On the other, there’s going to be matches in which the defining factor will be whether your striker nets his chances. Yesterday’s one could already have been one of those, were it not for Bologna’s lacklustre performance (let’s be honest guys. Yes the defence was solid, but Bologna is no Atalanta, Inter, Juve etc.). The striker’s conversion rate is especially important in a system like Allegri’s which does not rely upon creating chances at a constant rate. I would love to see Santi succeed, but his time will run out soon. I would totally understand if Leao replaces Santi once fully fit again. Gimenez will be a great impact sub later in the game.
Bologna won the coppa italia and the team have been together for awhile. They’re also very attacking so I will say milan did a great job in eliminating the threat. They cut those passing lanes out in the mid so many times.
Bologna has netted once in three matches.
It was most likely due to him going for international duty & arriving much later than the others. Puli is an obvious starter, barring any injuries, in Udine.
Exactly.
It happens to most strikers at some point.
Messi and Ronaldo are not the rule, they’re the rare, rare exceptions.
Inzaghi only got to 10 Serie A goals in only 5/11 Milan seasons, and his highest number was 17/30 with his lowest being 0/11 and 2/20.
But he stayed at the club for 11 seasons and in some of those seasons he was the difference.
Chopping and changing strikers doesn’t work because you’re constantly replacing dice trying to get a 6.
These are elite athletes where every single detail makes a difference. Some can hit the ground running but many need time. Even Messi struggled at PSG.
Messi and Ronaldo also had teams built around them that play for them.
This isn’t the case at Milan.
Gimenez is bad. The sooner fans accept it the better. Abraham and Jovic showed they were superior players but most fans didn’t make excuses for them when they weren’t getting service.
With Gimenez though, it’s a pity party. It’s just ridiculous
Why would it be ‘better’?
So the club can replace him with their 20th striker in 10 years?
And when he is ‘bad’ they can replace that striker and then the next striker and the next striker.
Good game. Interesting that none of our 3 best offensive players, Leao, Puli, and Nkunku fit into how Allegri plays. And if Allegri keeps winning corto muso games in his 3-5-2 style, its going to be interesting to see what happens with Leao and Pulisic next year.
If he wasn’t as rigid – I’d start Pulisic upfront instead of Gimenez as a false 9, but that’s beyond wishful thinking.
i always ask myself what does really Fofana offer to the team?he does not help in neither defending nor attacking, for me, i would take out Fofana, Roftus and Tomori
One thing is to be critical of a player and it’s another thing to negate his contributions too. Fofana may not be the classy type of midfielder, but to deny his work rate in the defending phases of our games is been bias.
Rabiot knows how to use his body. It was good to see a Milan midfielder so solid in possession.
1- Modrić is our best player by quite a margin. Considering his age, we ought to be careful on how to use him.
2- Giménez has his work cut for him.
3- Fofana and Loftus-Cheek are average at best. That or Allegri doesn’t know how to use them.
4- Ricci should probably start more often.
5- Italian refeering is quite a mess.
It is not only Italian refeering. In the EPL and La Liga there are many bad or questionable decisions too. A good number of games is being determined by such episodes.
Clearly Allegri and Tuchel disagree about RLC.
All of this talk of ‘average’ is just so meaningless. These are in the top 1% of players on the planet (and that includes the Bologna players).
It’s not a computer game. RLC (and to a lesser degree Fofana) did what was required. That’s all anyone can ask for.
Or else enjoy your 4th midfield revolution in 4 years.
RLC is not a striker but is playing up front, that will change…and he has been good playing further back.
This confidence excuse with Gimenez is getting stale.
He can have Ibra’s confidence and won’t change much. The sooner someone else starts in his place the better it will be for Milan
1) The new signings are looking pretty good. Modric looks incredible. Ricci looks good, Rabiot looks good, De Winter looked solid. Nkunku should have had a penalty. Estupian looks solid defensively and almost had a nice goal.
2) Unfortunately they screwed up the most important signing which is the head coach. An archaic, cowardly style of football. Boring, Ugly. We play the way bottom table teams play when they are facing top teams, even when we are facing bottom table teams.
On top of that he doesn’t know how to best use the talent he has. Playing 1 attacking player and 6 midfielders…Even when playing a 3-5-2 he won’t put two attackers up top. Not starting Pulisic especially with Leao out is bewildering. Playing Fofana and RLC together makes no sense. Fofana should be on the bench, Ricci should be our DM and Modric should play furthur up the pitch, you know, where has played his entire career. But Allegri knows better I guess.
To watch the Juventus vs Inter match and see what great football can look like and then have to watch this boring, ugly anti-football that Allegri plays, is brutal. A season full of boring, ugly 1-0 games is all we can hope for. Sure he may get into the top 4 this way, but then what? My only hope is that he was chosen as a safe bet for one season to get us back into the top 4 and then we will find a coach who has some real ideas and is not stuck in the past century.
Have you ever watched horse races ?
In horse racing, the winning horse doesn’t need to be ahead by his full body or 100 meters to win.
If a he is ahead by just his muzzle or even his nostrils, he wins.
In contrast, if he lags behind by just his nostrils, he loses.
It’s as straight forward as that, no more, no less.
What on earth are you talking about and what does it have to do with anything?
I guess you missed some Allegri press conferences.
You really need an explanation to that narration?
Wow!!
I’m no Allegri fan but I think Modric asked to be played back there. Now whether Allegri should listen to him is another question..
Exactly! That was the player’s request and he’s doing a fantastic job there.
People must nag over everything.
Which offensive player did he have fit to start?
Whats so bewildering about Pulisic not starting?
They are careful with Pulisic because he was nursing an injury before the break and then he had a long trip.
Leao is out injured.
While, Nkunku is fit for only 25 minutes.
So which other offensive player he had at his disposal to play?
If they risk Pulisic and he gets injured resulting in long injury absence you’d be the first to criticize him because he played him.
And i would understand all this complaining about the lineup if Milan lost, but they won while not risking Pulisic. It was a win-win decision.
He was playing 2 attacking players all pre season, so all that he won’t use 2 attackers up top even in 352 is just nonsense.
Why do people keep repeating this nonsense. Pulisic was fit and ready to go according to him and the coach but people still don’t want to believe it. He played 65 minutes in a friendly match 5 days ago and looked great. He has no injury and is in great form. Milan are playing basically one game a week.
The last 2 seasons he has been playing multiple games per week for Milan with almost no injury problems so the narrative that he is injury prone and needs to be protected is nonsense.
He even said that most of the problems he had with injuries at Chelsea were caused by not playing on a regular basis.
No one said anything about Pulisic being injury prone but that he was nursing an injury couple weeks ago and he traveled a lot during the break so they err on the side of caution and it payed out.
Leao played once a week and he is about to be out for about 2 months before he comes back. Just because you play once a week doesn’t mean you can’t get injured.
And Modric has been great playing in the role he himself asked Allegri to play so there is no reason to change his position. Milan doesn’t have Toni Kroos to play as a regista instead of Modric.
He was not nursing an injury. Stop repeating this nonsense. He is fine , he has been fine. If he was nursing an injury he would not have started for the U.S. He is in fine form. Stop using it an an excuse.
“Leao played once a week and he is about to be out for about 2 months before he comes back. Just because you play once a week doesn’t mean you can’t get injured.”
I’m sorry but this is an idiotic statement. By that reasoning we should not play anyone because they COULD get hurt. Modric is 40 and just played for Croatia. Giminez did the same traveling Pulisic did. Stop already.
@MK
Pulisic has been playing with an ankle injury for a few weeks. They appear to be managing his time not to aggravate it further.
I wonder what the excuse will be if he is left on the bench for the next game? I’ve said all along he doesn’t fit Allegri’s system. If he’s on the bench next week transfer papers will be submitted.
@Mk “He has no injury and is in great form. Milan are playing basically one game a week.”
Also @Mk “I’m sorry but this is an idiotic statement. ”
The only idiotic statement is you keep insisting that Pulisic hasn’t been slow down by ankle injury. He was never hurt, and Allegri didn’t play him because he doesn’t like playing attackers.
Milan won without risking Pulisic.
The ankle injury that only exists in your head so you can try to make an excuse for this coach’s idiotic decisions.
Again, Pulisic says he is completely fit. The coach says he is completely fit. But somehow you know more than both of them. There was no indication by the player or the coach that he is not fully fit. The only reason you are saying that is because it makes absolutely no sense for Allegri not to start Pulisic if he is fully fit, therefor, he must not be fully fit. Or, Allegri is just a stubborn old dinosaur of a coach who just wants a bunch of big physical players out there to play Bully Ball and doesn’t really care about technical ability or skill, or scoring goals.
100% agree.
I had no issues with the lineup, considering the team we were up against. Bologna beat us twice last season, and also beat Inter. They are no pushovers. Having some of our best players on the bench, with the starters not playing so badly, is also a good thing for the team. Now, we have players who can wear the opponents out, and, fresh legs to make instant impact. Wasn’t too impressed with Fofana’s casual/lose passes, but, he put in a lot defensively. Overall, we were able to neutralize Bologna’s best two. Italiano is a master tactician, but, even he, knew that he had been outclassed by Allegri. Pavlovic was my fear at the back, because he wasn’t too comfortable on the ball, but, still, they all did a good job. Estupinian showed a lot of improvement, Rabiot was a great addition to the team. Modrić is not just in a different class, he’s also teaching other players how to move. I hope Fofana learns from him. Saelemaekers has certainly improved, with Pulisic and Modrić around him. I hope we see more of this. He also helped a great deal defensively. Gimenez, I have always loved, even before we bought him, but, I hope he works on his game and confidence. We could have sealed the game on time if not for his bad control and misses. So far, the team is doing well, and, we hope they can carry on like this. They might not be a great bunch, but, everyone has what they are adding to the team. Ricci, De Winter, did good. All the best, guys.
Agree with most of that but I’m not sure how Saelemaekers can improve on dribbling past the entire Napoli defence….
(Sorry just I can’t stand this myth that the loans were of any use, he’s the exact same level he was when he had his career unnecessarily disrupted by loans (to rivals) and if anything he’s probably behind where he’d be had he been playing alongside the same players on that time (same with the rest of the squad)).
I disagree with you often idk salad seems to have much better game intelligence I think that’s what’s changed. He used to be just like Musah, some flashes of brilliance straddled by extremely dumb play
I meant to add “but you’re not far off” after I disagree with you often, my bad
I am not sure what ‘game intelligence’ means.
And how said ‘game intelligence’ would not have improved had he not just played with the same players for an extended period of time.
Have you ever worked somewhere for more than 5 minutes?
Do you find your ‘intelligence’ grows the longer you’re at a place?
You know where to find the files or the vodka (barman reference) or whatever?
Why does everyone just assume footballers are these mythical creatures who don’t actually need to get used to their surroundings to reach their potential?
“I am not sure what ‘game intelligence’ means.”
Easy.
Watch Musah then watch Modrić. Or the other way around, it would still work.
If the game was sheer athleticism, speed, stamina,… then Musah would probably be a top 10 midfielder in the world while Modrić might even struggle to start with a B side team.
“Do you find your ‘intelligence’ grows the longer you’re at a place?”
My overall intelligence ? I don’t know, but my work intelligence sure grew after few monthes. I had better reflexes, better understanding of my tasks, I anticipated better,…
I’m actually quite surprised if you’re telling me that anyone who works anywhere understood EVERYTHING about ANYTHING in 5 minutes. Either the work is too easy, the person is lying or they stalled quickly, and none of that is good.
Forza milan
Sale the man…no look pass and nutmeg… the best
My concern with Modric/Ricci/Jashari is at least one would struggle because they all have similar characteristics.
(The auld 3/1 that Milan love so much where they sign 3 players for one position in one transfer window and some or all struggle, and then they learn nothing from it and do it again and again and again and the crowd called out for more)
Modric clearly has the class to succeed despite these conditions.
Ricci has the Serie A experience but will struggle to break in with Modric.
Jashari’s injured and has the pressure of the ridiculous transfer circus this summer.
It’s difficult to see (or get) past the midfield that started because they have complimentary characteristics.
RLC and Fofana work as a combo next to Modric, and now Rabiot also offers something different.
Once Pulisic and Leao are fit I expect to see 3 of these 4 starting.
I feel for Ricci and Jashari. They could well be the latest victims of the auld 3/1 rule.
Let’s not pretend that the summer transfer window was done with a plan in mind. I think we all know this at this point.
Personally, I’d love to see a midfield 3 of Ricci, Modrić and Rabiot. I think Ricci can start alongside Modrić and doesn’t need to replace him. Plus, we gotta manage Modrić from time to time, he is 40 y/o and can’t play forever even in a once per week rythm.
So for that reason, I’m not very worried about Ricci, at least for now.
Now, with Allegri’s prefence for physical players and Rabiot, I think it’s clear that at least 2 of Fofana, Loftus-Cheek and Rabiot will start every game and assuming that the midfield will be fine tuned by december, it seems that it’s Jashari, our most expensive midfielder, that will be sidelined.
And you gotta feel for the kid, with all that summer drama and how he was adamant to join what is apparently his dream club even with other clubs being interested.
I think to the extent there as any plan Allegri is a world class coach (not to exaggerate given we’re talking about 6 x winning Scudetto coach) to the extent he had any involvement I think he was pushing for a midfield that actually complimented each other.
That really is key above any speculation about abilities. Players have to be able to work together, and physicality is important.
Ricci, Modrić and Rabiot could potentially work but I think Ricci and Modrić lack the mobility. And I really don’t understand why people aren’t seeing what RLC brings – he gets the ball, he plays it simple (that might be it), he uses his physicality to turn and often wins free kicks, he makes runs forward into dangerous positions, and he pops up with goals and assists.
For those reasons I suspect that Allegri will continue to play him probably at the expense of Ricci. His best bet is to step up when Modrić is rested.
Jashari could well be playing for Atalanta next season….
Can’t respond to your comment above but we have no idea what Musah is like because he was signed under the auld-3/1-let’s wreck-another-player-rule.
And I guarantee you Modric would’ve been ruined had he made the unfortunate to decision to sign for AC Milan early on in his career.
Milan has mostly not a club where players can perform so rating them is kind of pointless.
I think we agree that most people need time to settle into real jobs (for example as accountants) so I presume we should apply the same approach to elite athletes operating at the highest imaginable levels where split second decisions cost games.
My response wasn’t about Milan’s bad transfer policies, it was about player onfield intelligence.
Musah isn’t an intelligent player. He might be an intelligent person, has a PHD or whatever, but on the field, almost every decision he makes with the ball on his feet is bad. He makes the same mistakes again and was subbed out TWICE during the first half during last season despite not being carded or injured.
Modrić, even during his earlier years at Tottenham or Real Madrid, showed a lot of high football IQ and right now, the dear Saelemakers has shown quite the improvment in decision making, timing, cool headedness,… that’s what it means to be an intelligent player.
But that decision making is not as ‘spontaneous’ or ‘gifted’ or whatever people believe.
It comes from playing together week in/week out. For years.
Musah barely played week in or out, and rarely in one position so we have no idea.
Apart from the briefest of periods under Pioli for the last 15 years nearly every single Milan player has failed to reach anywhere near their potential.
Even Bonucci. He went from a serial Scudetto winner (at Juve) to a disaster (at Milan) and back to being serial Scudetto and European Championship winner (with Juve and Italy).
The only thing that can be said is that Modric is a type of player who relies on his vision and movement, and Musah seemed like the kind of player who relied more on physicality.
And actually two could have formed a partnership similar to Pirlo and Gattuso.
And of course Pirlo’s career was destined to end in failure until he got a break under a proper manager at Milan.
The line between success and failure is so fine, and bad managers, and constant turnover almost guarantee failure.
With everything that went on around him during the mercarto, one can understand why Gimenez is struggling a bit. Seems to be more psychological than anything else. And Allegri seems to be compounding the issues barking out instructions to him every second.
This team has the potential to be excellent even in a 3-5-2. With Leao, Puli, Gimenez and Nkunku playingvas the 2 upfront. But i doubt Allegri would give the players any creative freedom to really express themselves.
Ricci looks like he should start. De Winter looks promising. And i would like to see Bartesaghi as well. If the formation was clear from the beginning , I would we rather have gotten a different competition for Estupinian and played Barts as LCB where i believe he would shine the most