AC Milan won their first derby since 2022 on Sunday night, and they have Matteo Gabbia to thank for the late winner. The defender has been immensely impressive since returning to the club in January, and he spoke about the time he spent away from the club after the derby.
Gabbia’s upsurge in impact has been phenomenal. When Milan were at the height of their defensive crisis, many expected the club to spend money on reinforcements, but instead, they brought back Gabbia six months early from his loan spell at Villarreal.
A decision that was overlooked originally, but a fantastic decision in hindsight. Not a flashy addition to the squad, Gabbia quickly became a vital figure in the second half of the season for the Rossoneri, and when called upon he delivered.
However, with the Diavolo adding Strahinja Pavlovic to the squad, there were questions about what role he could play. Nevertheless, he has still played some minutes, and he gave Paulo Fonseca a reason to keep him in the lineup with a fantastic goal against Inter.
Speaking to Alberto Rimedio after the game, Gabbia looked back at his loan spell in Spain and explained how it helped him get where he is currently, and his words have been relayed by Radio Rossonera.
Matteo, exactly a year ago you were living at Villarreal, with a handful of appearances on the fringes of the Yellow Submarine project. Did you ever imagine that you could experience a night like this?
“I always work at my best. Then, honestly, at Villarreal in six months I played 15 games, so… There it’s a slightly different mentality, there was more alternation in the players.
However, I was highly regarded in that experience and it served me well. I work, as I said before, always to the best of my ability. And consequently, my dream is to experience evenings like that and to play matches like that. So, absolutely yes. In my head, my goal is to try to experience as many evenings of this level as possible.”
Gabbia was always good for us in my view but unfortunately he didn’t play that much or consistently for us before the Villareal loan but when he was called upon always did minimum decent.
Yeah our defending was pretty bad last season when he’s not there. Or did you remember last time when we are unbeatable early 2020 we had Gabbia there too.
Well not sure if you misread what I said here because I’ve ALWAYS thought he was a good defender for us and also while most people wanted him shipped out.
He is decent at defending and sometimes attacking too. His physical attributes are also good, i see him taller than Adli who is 6’1 (186cm), so Gabbia should be like 6’2 (188cm) bc he is almost the same height as Kjaer who is listed 190cm, he should maintain his muscle a bit to be like legend Maldini.
Jesus Lord! Can we send Calabria and Emerson to Villareal for 6mo’s? They seem to be a cure-all.