Ismael Bennacer of AC Milan

‘Running, tackling and clarity’ – Bennacer praised by media for performance vs. Girona

Photo by Maciej Rogowski/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images

Ismael Bennacer has had good and bad spells in games since coming back from a lengthy injury, but his performance against Girona was a reminder of what he can do.

For a second consecutive season due to a second consecutive serious injury, Bennacer has had to give everything and more to recover ahead of time and be able to return to help his team-mates. Having sustained a problem back in August, his full return came at the end of December.

The Algerian was understandably rusty in his first few outings, looking a bit off the pace but also sloppy in possession. Yesterday, however, Bennacer was one of the best on the pitch for Milan and he also had a hand in the winning moment.

With 37 minutes on the clock, Milan got the goal that their pressure had suggested was coming, pressure the former Empoli man helped build. Bennacer initiated a quick counter-press and won the ball back in midfield, sliding it to Rafael Leao who did the rest.

Of course the important thing now is for Bennacer to demonstrate that he can play consistently at a level like that, but the fact he was the best of the midfield three says a lot. MilanPress have compiled the ratings from the papers.

Gazzetta dello Sport (7): “He recovers the ball and then provides the assist for Leao’s goal. He adds running, tackling and clarity: he is improving and can be very useful.”

Corriere dello sport (6.5): “He returns to being decisive with an assist for Leao, a play that restores his morale and confidence for the future after difficult months.”

Tuttosport (6.5): “A perfect assist for Leao’s opener: he fights in midfield and makes his weight felt. Improving condition.”

Tags AC Milan Ismaël Bennacer

7 Comments

  1. This was great to see a vintage Bennacer performance. Sadly I think it’s just counting the days until he gets injured again. I hope I’m wrong about it because he can be a big asset if he can stay healthy.

  2. We have to move on from him while he is healthy and in form. His best years are behind him. In my opinion, it would be wise to sell him while he is marketable.

  3. A healthy Bennacer would give Milan a strong midfield. selling him means we would need a better player to replace him. Which would likely cost 30-40M.

  4. Good. Now we can start to ask for what we want for him. He should still be sold. You can not trust this player and he has shown he isn’t a real leader by refusing the captains armband in the past. Then factor in he is one of the highest paid players on the team and how Gerry counts his pennies and you can see why we are better off without him.

    1. Why you need 11leaders. He is not captain material, he likes to look himself calm and composed.
      You have shown one of the worst view of this year.

  5. Bennacer as Deep laying playmaker with strong defensive skills + Fofana as a industrious midfielder, box-to-box type, and Reijnders as progressive AMC, that is our best setup. 2nd tier should be Ricci (also as a cover for Fofo in big matches when needed) + Musah + some prospetcing AMC (Colpani, Szymański, Pafundi, 10 others) or joao felix/guler on loan and Loftus as a cover for all three positions + Zeroli, Vos and Liberali as a 3rd tier u21 cover. Maybe Football manager live but seriously we have quite strong and young midfielders right now, in-form they are like top1-3 in serie a

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