GdS: Too many conceded, Maignan beaten every time – Milan have a penalty problem

Penalties have become a real issue for AC Milan this season, especially given that they seem to be conceding one per game at the moment.

This morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) acknowledges that there are often caveats to every single spot kick given, but the fact that Milan have so far conceded 11 this season suggests they have a real problem in their own box.

The one from the other evening, controversially given by Orsato to Atalanta (and converted by Koopmeiners) after the review on the monitor for light contact between Giroud and Holm, cost two points.

This, it is added to the list of other decisive penalties that the Rossoneri have given away this season, such as the one with which Orsolini and Bologna grabbed a 2-2 draw in the 92nd minute and the one thanks to which Pereyra and Udinese won at San Siro last November.

There are penalties outside of Serie A that negatively affected Milan’s path. Koopmeiners eliminated the Rossoneri from the Coppa Italia with one, while Reus paved the way for Borussia Dortmund in the 3-1 at San Siro in the Champions League.

With at least 14 more games to play, the number of penalties conceded by Milan already exceed those of previous seasons: in both 2021-22 and 2022-23 the balance at the end of the season ended with seven spot kicks for the opponents.

It is a competition of blame, distributed between defenders (Calabria responsible against Borussia and Roma, Theo in the derby, and then Jimenez, Terracciano, Thiaw and Kjaer), midfielders (Adli against Udinese) and forwards (Leao’s handball against Frosinone and Jovic in Rennes before Giroud’s against Atalanta on Sunday).

The trouble is that the trend has grown dramatically in 2024: eight out of 11 penalties have occurred from January to today, and the last three goals conceded have only come from the penalty spot, between Rennes and Atalanta.

Stefano Pioli commented on the issue after Sunday’s game: “Unfortunately we are taking penalties from all sides, this year there are too many.

“Maybe sometimes we made mistakes in some individual situations and were naive, in other cases there was something exaggerated in the referee’s assessments. And then we attack a lot, but we don’t get many. We have to be smart.”

In short, the topic will be addressed at Milanello. Beyond the referee’s assessments, the threshold of attention will have to rise to reverse the trend.

As for penalties won, the numbers in the league are even: seven penalties called against and the same number in favour. The fact is that while the Rossoneri sometimes miss spot kicks, it doesn’t happen to their opponents.

In fact, Mike Maignan has been beaten by every single penalty he has faced this season. For Mike this is unprecedented: from 2017-18 (his first season as a starter at Lille) to today, he has never experienced impotence on penalties.

His best season was his last, when he saved two out of four penalties including one against Kvaratskhelia in the Champions League quarter-finals. That was April 18th, since then Maignan has lost his magic.