AC Milan have struggled to find the right partnership in their midfield this season. However, against Empoli, Stefano Pioli may have found the perfect composition for his midfield moving forward.
Sunday’s performance was not a display of champagne football, but that can be forgiven due to the context of the fixture and its timing. Milan had to deal with a squad thinned by suspensions whilst being mindful of their upcoming fixture against Slavia Praha.
Therefore, efficiency had to be paramount, and the Rossoneri were indeed efficient. Earning a 1-0 victory with no casualties sets the side up perfectly for their clash on Thursday night in Prague.
The stem of efficiency was, without a doubt, the midfield, and the partnership of Ismael Bennacer and Tijjani Reijnders controlled the game. Gazzetta dello Sport writes the partnership had 200 touches between them, almost three times more than the combined touches of Empoli’s central defender partnership (68).
Reijnders and Bennacer’s skillsets perfectly complimented each other on Sunday, and this provides a benchmark of their best, and if they can build upon this further in the future, Milan have a very strong combination for the future.
Bennacer is the regista of the two, opening himself for the ball in every scenario and not afraid to take risks when doing so. He is then facilitated by Reijnders, who is transformative and reliable in his play, whether that is as the more defensive-minded of the duo or the attacker.
Perhaps the biggest credit for the pair is that they are interchangeable and can operate in the other’s role without difficulty, as they proved with Bennacer’s pre-assist. The Algerian midfielder dropped deeper and dispatched a 20-metre pass to Okafor, who duly assisted Pulisic.
