AC Milan will be back in league action one week from today against Juventus, and they are hoping to continue from a strong defensive foundation.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes that ‘after the derby earthquake, Milan rebuilt its Scudetto heritage site, and it turned out to be stronger than before’.
Stefano Pioli’s defence has returned to the certainties of 2021-22, because the Rossoneri don’t concede goals even if they deploy their striker between the posts, as Genoa, Verona, Lazio, Newcastle and Borussia Dortmund have found out.
Luvumbo’s rocket in Cagliari was the one goal conceded in the last 540 minutes for the Rossoneri, who have let in eight goals all season of which five game in one game against Inter.
Milan have done better than all since that derby loss and in fact only Monza have managed to concede just one goal in the last four matches like the Rossoneri.
Inter conceded twice against both Sassuolo and Bologna, Juventus let in four against Sassuolo, while Fiorentina put three past Napoli.
Milan armoured themselves at the right time, even changing their formation (the three-man defense seen with Verona) and those playing (the rotation spared no one, including the defence).
In the Champions League the Rossoneri are the only ones with an unbroken defence together with Barcelona, and it is in large part down to the fact Fikayo Tomori is back to his best.
His suspension for the derby and what happened in that game show how important he is, and now Tomori is back to being an almost unbeatable central defender. His return to being in the England side shows his rise.
Vlahovic and Chiesa’s Juventus will arrive at San Siro next Sunday: Tomori – who scored his first goal as a Milan player against the Bianconeri and did it again a year ago – will direct the proceedings together with Thiaw.
The German has put his mistakes against Inter behind him and has found continuity again. Alongside Tomori he has grown, as happened with Kalulu two years ago.
Pellegrino, a 21-year-old purchased from Platense, is still missing. Pioli hasn’t given him a debut yet, but the ‘effects’ of the Rossoneri wall are still being felt as he got an Argentina call-up.
From this break Milan will re-emerge without two pillars, the suspended Maignan and Theo Hernandez, but Pioli will be able to count on the reliability of Sportiello and on the flexibility of Kalulu, someone who can play both as a full-back and the middle.
In a week Milan will face Juve, PSG and Napoli: the more bricks there are in the wall, the safer the Diavolo feels.
