AC Milan secured a spot in the quarter-finals of the Europa League last night with 3-1 win away against Slavia Praha, meaning a 7-3 aggregate victory overall.
In rather symmetrical fashion to the first leg, a red card for the Czech side inside the opening half an hour – when Holes was sent off after a VAR review following a stamp on Davide Calabria’s ankle – was their undoing.
Just as they did at San Siro, Milan got three goals before half-time. The first came from Christian Pulisic as he fired into the bottom corner, then Ruben Loftus-Cheek tapped home a Theo Hernandez cross and finally Rafael Leao thumped one into the top corner.
Jurasék did get one back for the hosts late on but the Rossoneri were just happy for it to be a routine night in the end, considering the drama of the first leg.
Below are the key stats from the game…
Tale of the tape
The stats show the dominance that Milan were able to exert after the red card. They had a far higher xG (2.53 to 0.34 for Slavia), as well as 61% of the ball and 12 total shots to eight, with six of them being on target (tripling Slavia’s two).
In addition, the Rossoneri had five big chances compared to zero for the home side, while they also had five corners which was two more than the Czechs.
📊 The stats from the win against Slavia Praha pic.twitter.com/EWSVwVJMBk
— MilanData📊 (@acmilandata) March 14, 2024
The ex-Blues are bouncing
Loftus-Cheek got his name on the scoresheet again with one of those deep runs into the box that are fast becoming his trademark, and he actually did something that hasn’t been done since Kaka 17 years ago.
.@RLC is the first #ACMilan midfielder to have scored at least four goals in a single season in major European competitions since Kakà in 2006-07 (10).
[via @OptaPaolo] pic.twitter.com/ju5k5JzGUi
— MilanData📊 (@acmilandata) March 14, 2024
There is a slight adjustment to make to the tweet below: Pulisic actually has 19 goal contributions in 38 games for Milan as they hadn’t included his assist to Leao. Remarkable numbers from the American.
2022/23: 3⃣ goal contributions in 30 games
2023/24: 1⃣8⃣ goal contributions in 38 gamesChristian Pulisic is 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 in Italy 🤩 pic.twitter.com/lrELA2ZMQM
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 14, 2024
Artist at work
Leao had a big hand in the win again, having set up Pulisic for the opening goal and then scoring the pick of the goals with a gorgeous shot into the top corner from outside the box.
His stats tell a story: 100% tackle success, 76% pass accuracy (19/25), 43 touches, 10 touches in the Slavia box, 4 passes into final third, 3 duels won, 3 shots, 2 dribbles completed, 2 chances created, 1 accurate cross, 1 tackle, 1 goal, 1 assist.
The top dogs
It is worth checking in on who have been the most productive players for Milan this season, and it is Olivier Giroud who leads the way still with 23 goal contributions (14 goals, nine assists).
Leao is next with 21 (10G, 11), while Theo is in fourth (14 goal contributions – 4G, 10A). Pulisic and RLC are third and fifth respectively, and they stand out among the summer signings.
Goals & Assists for Milan this season:
Giroud – 14⚽️ 9🅰️ (23 g/a)
Leao – 10⚽️ 11🅰️ (21 g/a)
Pulisic – 11⚽️ 8🅰️ (19 g/a)
Theo – 4⚽️ 10🅰️ (14 g/a)
RLC – 9⚽️ 2🅰️ (11 g/a)(Via @Transfermarkt) pic.twitter.com/kPJyQyqaNq
— Saturnion 🙂 (@saturnion13) March 14, 2024
A first awaits
The Europa League quarter-final and semi-final draw took place this afternoon in Nyon, and AC Milan were pitted against domestic rivals Roma.
#ACMilan and Roma will face each other in a European competition for the first time in history.
[via @OptaPaolo] pic.twitter.com/1DQameKDvM
— MilanData📊 (@acmilandata) March 15, 2024
