AC Milan failed to bring three points back to Milano as Torino prevailed 3-1 at Stadio Olimpico yesterday. The defensive disaster continued for the Rossoneri, conceding goals that easily could have been avoided.
Stefano Pioli stated after the game that it has been a symbol of Milan’s season, conceding way too many goals to compete at the very top. With a new manager on the way, however, it’s not for the 58-year-old to fix and that has made for an interesting dynamic in these last games.
In any case, Milan should have done a lot better and the stats suggest this as well, so let’s take a look at them.
Higher xG but less output
Torino allowed Milan to dominate possession for most of the game and instead relied on counter-attacks, aiming to hurt the Rossoneri when slightly disorganised. This turned out to be a very good tactic, though helped a lot by the away side’s poor defending.
Of course, it should also be noted that Milan’s xG is higher because of the penalty awarded, which Ismael Bennacer calmly converted. A penalty tends to be just under 0.8xG, which means the two sides were actually rather even.
Torino clearly made the most of their opportunities when going forward, getting 5/11 shots on target and registering two so-called ‘big chances’.
📊 The stats from the loss against Torino pic.twitter.com/65GxOCRIE2
— MilanData📊 (@acmilandata) May 18, 2024
Defensive horror continues
The defensive mistakes cost Milan the game, as we have seen so many times before this season, and something needs to change in the summer. With one game left of the season, the Rossoneri have conceded 46 goals and they are now approaching Banter Era figures.
In fact, in the 21st century, Milan have only conceded more than 46 goals on two occasions: 2013/14 (49) and 2014/15 (50). This says a lot about the season and what could have been had they been a lot better at the back.
#ACMilan have conceded 46 goals in the league this season, with one game still to go. In the 21st century, only in 2013/14 (49) and 2014/15 (50) did they concede more goals. pic.twitter.com/WbTta8RDSL
— MilanData📊 (@acmilandata) May 19, 2024
Two goals in two games
Ismael Bennacer continued his positive moment with a nice penalty, following the tap-in goal and MOTM display last weekend. It was not just his second goal in the last two games, but also his second goal of the season which highlights his struggles for most of it.
Indeed, the midfielder can be a brilliant player but he has been way too inconsistent this season, mainly due to the serious knee injury which kept him out until November. In any case, it remains to be seen what evaluations Milan will make in the summer.
Why does a dam leak?
Because there’s a f*cking HOLE in it the size of Kessie…
Also because half of our CBs don’t know how to defend. It looks like Zlatan made Kalulu look like a decent player just like he did with Nocerino & Kevin Prince-Boateng. Without Z, Kalulu is a Serie C level player. And I don’t know what Thiaw’s problem is but for sure he cannot defend at all.
For all those jacking off on how much we score, a big juicy fact:
“With the three goals conceded at the hands of Torino, the goals conceded by the Rossoneri team in the championship rise to 46.
The numbers speak clearly and condemn Stefano Pioli’s boys, also because this statistic means that this year’s is one of Milan’s worst defenses since the beginning of the 21st century. Only in 2013/14 (49 goals conceded) and 2014/15 (50 goals conceded) were worse figures recorded.”
Banter era stats right there. Yet we managed to finish 2nd.
I’ll give you two more for free:
Pioli is overachieving and apart from Inter, Serie A competition is a joke this season. Or as you like to call our Scudetto season – we were just lucky.
Agreed with everyone here. No matter if we get Mbappe, Halland, and the late Maradona, you can’t be a serious team with this defense, and this defensive game that we don’t have.