Following the rather disappointing draw against Empoli, Milan bounced back with a crucial win in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals against Napoli.
Nobody was expecting the game to be a replica of the 4-0 in Serie A and Napoli looked much better this time out. However, in the 40th minute, Milan managed to take the lead through Ismael Bennacer after a great counter set up by Brahim Diaz and Rafael Leao.
The goal gave Milan a much-needed boost and they continued to attack until the half-time whistle and were very close to a second, but Simon Kjaer was denied by the woodwork. In the second half, Napoli had their fair share of chances but Mike Maignan was great in goal, and the red card helped the Rossoneri see the game out.
Here are five things we learned…
1. Decisive between the sticks
Milan’s defence played an overall good game, but Napoli still had their chances in front of goal. Unfortunately for them, Maignan denied all their efforts and put up a world-class performance showing how crucial he is for Milan, and how crucial a goalkeeper of his level is in general.
In addition to the saves he made, Maignan was constantly involved in the build-up and provided some very nice passes where he managed to beat Napoli’s press. A great shot-stopper and equally good with his feet. Outstanding performance by the Frenchman.
2. Two for two
With Osihmen’s absence the main man for Napoli on the night was always going to be Kvaratskhelia. After successfully keeping him at bay at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona ten days ago, Davide Calabria continued in the same fashion in the Champions League clash.
The captain hardly put a foot wrong and did an excellent job at keeping the Napoli star quiet. He also tried to go forward on multiple occasions and worked really hard, but didn’t really produce much going forward which is probably his only flaw in the game. Keeping Kvaratskhelia, however, is good enough and we won’t judge him harshly on his attacking performance.
3. Napoli’s nightmare
Brahim Diaz was another player that terrorized Napoli in that 4-0 win and he continued to do so at the San Siro, getting the Man of the Match award in both our ratings and by UEFA.
The Spaniard’s fast feet and excellent dribbling allowed him to constantly beat the press and in the 40th minute, he did so effortlessly after leaving Mario Rui and Lobotka for dead and bursting forward to combine with Leao and Bennacer, which led to Milan’s first and only goal.
Diaz has been terrific in big games and he seems to enjoy the fact that the opponents play openly, meaning he can exploit that with his dribbling. Hopefully, we’ll see more of the same in the reverse fixture.
4. Midfield brilliance
The midfield battle was a fierce one and Napoli seemed to have the upper hand in the first half hour, but Milan grew into the game and managed to make the difference. Rade Krunic was crucial in the build-up phase and helped massively in defence whilst also staying calm on the ball and not committing errors.
Bennacer was given more space behind Olivier Giroud, as he had a few nice creative moments where he showed off his technical abilities and scored the only goal of the game (his first in the Champions League).
Sandro Tonali was all over the pitch as he massively helped at the back but also had multiple runs going forward, although he probably could’ve been a bit more focused in the attacking phase, but overall he had a great game.
5. Signs of maturity
And finally, it’s worth mentioning the way Milan approached the game. One year ago, the campaign in the Champions League ended early on for Milan and it was obvious that the team was lacking the maturity and experience in the tournament.
But this year, and against Napoli, Milan have shown to be able to keep their composure in tough situations. They handled the final two games of their group in great fashion and then dealt with Spurs in a fabulous way, keeping four consecutive clean sheets in the process.
Against Napoli, Pioli’s men kept another clean sheet and were calm on the ball, didn’t rush and seemed patient and waited for the opportunity through the 90 minutes. The growth is evident and most of the players are still young so the overall signs are great for the club as a whole as they can only get better.
Only thing I still complain about is them being so unprofessional to have var not working in a quarter final. I’m certain one of those incidents on Milan would’ve been a penalty and a 2-0 lead is very different to a 1-0 lead in a 2 legged game
milan need to sign brahim whatever takes and quickly cause his price is going to keep going up and up
2:0 lead is probably the worst lead you can have it give you a false sense of security
Agree with most of the points except midfield brilliance. Our Midfield was poor. the only bright spot was Krunic. Tonali was PATHETIC as the only thing he did was backpassing. Bennacer was avg. If anything.. Midfield was THE WEAKNESS that Napoli is going to utilize 100% in the next leg. We lost every battle in midfield even after a Napoli was down to 10 men. Midfield was once a strength and now it’s a liability!
First thing first… Its clear that we don’t have ANY Defensive mids besides Krunic. Tonali looks like he is already in decline at such a young age. He needs to step his game up MASSIVELY.
Bennacer’s has always been an aggressive CM+Playmaker yet we always kept playing him as a CDM till Pioli had the ‘bright’ idea after 3 years that we had an attacking midfield in our ranks all along. It took Pioli 3 years to realize Brahim was MUCH better in RW. Better late than never. I am glad that the realization has come to Pioli and he is making the team better.
Here’s a few anecdotes. Saele as CAM , he is slow.. but good at dribbling in shortspaces. good at short passes.. But we are using Saele as RW where he needs to pass long and deliver crosses both of which he is really bad at.
Then.. we can use Kalulu as RW when Diaz isn’t available, because he is the only player who can put a pinpoint cross.. he is fast.. very good at moving forward with the ball and beating his man. I wonder how long will it take for Pioli to recognize these massive strengths sitting on the bench.
Forza Milan!
Pioli is kinda frustrating in that way, and he keeps playing Mesias who sucks everywhere, we all know that no.10 is a position of the past but hey we need no.10 for some reason let’s not play Aldi or CDK or Vortex or what ever his name is but lets give fucking Bakayoko and Origi minutes…. Injuries are actually the best thing that is happening to him then he is at least forced to rotate.
“we can use Kalulu as RW when Diaz isn’t available, because he is the only player who can put a pinpoint cross”
I think you confused Kalulu with Florenzi who is the best crosser on the right side.
I love how you want Calabria to shut down the leagues best player and also attack excellently… lol ok. No right or left back does that. Some are great in attack and ok or even bad in defense and others are more solid defensively. It’s rare to find a side back who is excellent at both, honestly I can’t find one… for example Davies attacks excellently but he’s awful in defense.. pick your poison guy..
both calabria and abate who both has often been lambasted by fans for their lack of assissts has both been crowned as the right backs of serie a who contributed with the most assists in their positiion in one season each so the perception of both has to some extent been schewed .
Exactly!