One of the surprise protagonists of AC Milan’s win over Juventus on Saturday was Matteo Gabbia, the man who managed to keep Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik quiet with the help of his team-mates.
La Gazzetta dello Sport have offered a detailed look into Gabbia’s journey so far to this point, starting with the fact wears the No.46 shirt in honour of his grandmother, the first person to bring him to San Siro: “We had a season ticket for the first tier, orange sector.”
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He would have a ham and cheese toastie before getting in the car and and joking with his cousin: “Can you imagine one day playing there?” Every time Gabbia touches the San Siro grass – especially after an almost flawless match against Juve – he realises those dreams became a reality.
He stopped the golden boy of Serbian football and a player who knows Serie A well in Milik. While his centre-back partner Fikayo Tomori and the other goal scorer Brahim Diaz take the spotlight, Gabbia comes out of the game feeling great.
Pioli had defined Gabbia in the past as a ‘resource’ and ‘a serious players who is always available’. Last year his contract was renewed until 2026, and despite a summer in which it seemed he would leave after the arrival of Malick Thiaw, the 23-year-old is still at Milan and ahead of the German in the pecking order.
Gabbia made his first appearance in Macedonia against Skendija in the Europa League back in August 2017 along with Manuel Locatelli. He spent a year at Lucchese in Serie C, with 30 appearances in 2018-19, then returned to his parent club where he grew into a reliable and trusted centre-back.
Gabbia has played 36 games – at least ten a year – since 2019. This year he is at three, with one in the Champions League and two in the league, for a total of 121 minutes. One of his idols remains Zlatan Ibrahimovic: “Once I liked his photos, now he answers me in person.” Saturday night showed the growth in confidence and mentality.
Player plays well in one game – SM: “[player]’s emergence guarantees they’ll never be sold and will be a starter for the next ten years and also they love the club”
Player plays badly – SM: “here are ten players Milan could buy to solve the huge problem at [position]”
GdS: means Gazzetta dello Sport. That’s the source of the story.
Fair point; it is a summary of the footballing press in general when presented in aggregate on SM. I suppose the adage “you’re only as good as your last game” has never been as true as in the social media age!
Gabbia has always shown to be a reliable figure. I remember a couple of seasons ago when he started like 6 in a row and we had many clean sheets. He needs more game time. I like him a lot, so simple and gets the job done.
Gabbia. Anh ấy điềm tĩnh, chính xác và tài năng. Anh ấy xứng đáng nhận được sự tin tưởng.
These injuries often have a way of being a blessing in disguise. Without them Gabbia would be stuck on the bench forever and probably sold which would be a huge cock up imo. Give him a chance instead of chasing after a new center back all the time.