There was a mixed bag of players ratings from La Gazzetta dello Sport last night as AC Milan kicked off their Champions League Group E campaign with a 1-1 draw in Salzburg.
The paper started by awarding a score of 6 out of 10 for the team’s performance as a whole, with head coach Stefano Pioli receiving the same mark for his decisions and selections both before and during the game.
The man of the match was Alexis Saelemaekers who got the goal that earned a draw and he got a 6.5, while the flop was Olivier Giroud who failed to really assert himself into the game and received a mark of 5.
Mike Maignan and Fikayo Tomori in the rearguard got a 6, but Davide Calabria (5), Pierre Kalulu (5.5) and Theo Hernandez (5.5) were all deemed to have struggled. Ismael Bennacer got the same as the French duo, with Sandro Tonali receiving a 6.
Charles De Ketelaere was awarded a 5 despite playing an important role in the equalising goal, while Rafael Leao got a 6. Substitutions Divock Origi (6), Sergino Dest (5.5) and Tommaso Pobega (6) each had a limited impact.
salads are healthy afterall
lol
There were few ‘shining’ performances, but also noticeable that there were very few poor performances, especially considering the very high workload from recent weeks for the likes of Hernandez, Giroud, Tonali and Leao.
Was it their best game? No. Was it a creditable result that could help qualify from the UCL group in a very busy schedule? Sure.
There’s a pressure for every set of ratings to look for a ‘best’ and a ‘worst’ but realistically, sometimes just have to say everyone was solid but not spectacular.