After securing their spot in the semi-finals of the Champions League, AC Milan had to focus on Serie A and the fight for the top four against Lecce on Sunday night.
The battle for a spot in Europe’s top club competition has had yet another recent twist with Juventus’s 15 points being returned to them for the time being, pushing Milan down to fifth in the league.
Against Lecce, the Rossoneri started well but didn’t manage to create a lot of chances and while they were dominating the possession Lecce held their own defensively and did not leave a lot of space for their opponents.
Fortunately for Stefano Pioli’s side, Rafael Leao jumped highest in the penalty box after a short corner between Sandro Tonali and Junior Messias, with the Portuguese winger heading the ball into the back of the net open up the scoring.
In the second half it was more of the same with Milan not really impressive in attack, but a moment of brilliance in the 74th minute – again courtesy of Leao – doubled the score for the hosts and put the game to bed.
It was a much-needed win that has put Milan just three points behind Juventus in third and on the same points as Roma, who have a game in hand and will play this evening against Atalanta. Here are five things we learned…
1. Man of the moment
If you were expecting anybody else to be the main protagonist for Milan rather than Leao then clearly you haven’t been watching games recently.
The Portuguese youngster started off the game a bit shaky as it seemed like he would have a bit of a slow match, but he did well to jump high and head the ball in on his first goal.
Rafael Leão is the second Portuguese player to score more than 10 goals in two consecutive seasons in Serie A, after Cristiano Ronaldo (21 in 2018-19, 31 in 2019-20 and 29 in 2020-21).
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— MilanData📊 (@acmilandata) April 23, 2023
Then on the second goal he took the ball from his half, dribbled to the opponent’s penalty box and finished it off with his weak foot with a low angled drive in off the far post as he was yet again the difference maker on the pitch.
Pioli will be hoping that Leao continues to perform on such a high level as the next few weeks will be crucial for the top four race and obviously Milan will play Inter in the Champions League where they will again need their star man at his best.
2. Midfield continuity
Sandro Tonali and Rade Krunic were superb across three games against Napoli and continued to be fundamental against Lecce too. Both Krunic and Tonali racked up an assist each and the Italian has really stepped up in recent weeks after a slow start to 2023.
Tonali has been creating a lot of chances for his team-mates in the last couple of months and he continues to grow into a pivotal part of this Milan squad.
Sandro Tonali's numbers from the game against Lecce.
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— MilanData📊 (@acmilandata) April 24, 2023
Putting his success in attack aside, he has also covered a lot of ground and made multiple crucial interceptions at the back helping the defence keep a few clean sheets in recent games.
His partner in crime Krunic has also been great in the double pivot as he’s done a lot of the dirty work and has involved himself a lot in the build-up play. The Bosnian offers great stability and composure in the middle and has hardly put a foot wrong in recent weeks.
3. Good defensive display
The defence also did their part in winning all three points by keeping things tight at the other end which allowed that attack to take more risks to break the deadlock without the risk of a sucker-punch.
There was a bit of rotation at the back with Pierre Kalulu slotting in for Davide Calabria and Malick Thiaw replacing Simon Kjaer, but all of the defenders did a terrific job and left little for Lecce to work with excluding one dangerous moment throughout the 90 minutes.
It’s great to see the stability persist even after rotating half of the back four and it will be crucial for Pioli to take advantage of the quality he has got at the back which was a key point in last year’s Scudetto triumph.
4. Duo disappoint
It wasn’t all great for Milan as there were still 2 players that disappointed a bit in the attacking department: Junior Messias and Brahim Diaz.
The Spaniard had one of those games where he still managed to dribble past his man, but his final ball was just not on point and that undoes all the good work he did to get in the position in the first place.
He was crucial in the Napoli games and might be needing a rest too, but he had enough energy to dribble so we can’t excuse him based on fatigue.
Messias was also underwhelming on that right flank as he was not really involved in the game and when he was nothing creative came out of him. After Alexis Saelemaekers replaced him in the second half it didn’t take long for the Belgian to look much better.
5. Slight improvement
Ante Rebic got to start the game as the centre-forward this time around and seemed sharper compared to the last few games he participated in. There were some good movements and he tried to play simple with a touch or two which produced some positive moments.
He didn’t really manage to threaten the goalkeeper, though he has slightly unlucky as all of his good runs were wasted because of Diaz’s poor decision-making and inability to release the ball on time.
Pioli would be delighted if Rebic can get into a good form for the last 10 games of the season because he needs another attacking weapon with Divock Origi failing to fire.
If diaz stays next season retrain him as an right winger. He lacks the physicality needed for the position and lacks the body balance to make up for it.
All of his best games were on RW, but as soon as lord and saviour Messias is back Diaz has to play in the middle where nobody in the modern football actually plays anymore name me 1 top club in 2023 that plays with a proper no.10 ?
True.. but Messiah’s as not really settled well and Saelemakers is doing a good job at the moment
We need a right winger like Juventus left winger, kostic..
With the 2 goal cushion, the team became complacent. Sloppy passing, no intention to increase the tally. If only Lecce had more clinical players upfront, Milan would have been punished.
And Rebic…I don’t know what has happened to him since that long injury layoff. He just couldn’t get past any player again. Each time he had the ball and wanted to take on the opposition, I knew he would fail, and he did. I think he needs a personal inquisition.
And Charles, he is in a precarious situation and he needs to evolve.
These reviews are so arbitrary.
It was the exact same performance as against Bologna just with a bit of luck and Leao.
Lecce hit the post and could’ve had a second at the end.
Leao’s second goal was sheer individual brilliance.
The first goal however is a point to note. I’ve not got the stats to hand but it seems to me Milan have not exactly been prolific from set pieces this season.
Set pieces are key to games like this when teams drop deep and hit you on the counter.
The poor quality of set pieces is something I will never understand from professional football players. Rugby players get battered and then get up and kick a penalty from the corner with a peanut shaped ball. Football players can’t beat the first man (on the few occasions they take direct corners).
The whole notion of short corners is completely bizarre. You have a professional football player with all the time in the world to hit cross in from the by line, and instead they take it short, pass it around a few times. I’ve no idea how attacking players time their runs.
Meanwhile 50 yard free kicks from the centre of the pitch that are impossible to score from get aimlessly lobbed in all the time.
I don’t understand modern football.
Can we please give CDK a start with Leao on the left and Diaz on the right and Giroud in attack? I would like to see how he performs with the starters instead of the Rebic and Origi. Even more interesting, put CDK on the right or upfront and see what happens.