AC Milan got back to winning ways in Serie A and they picked a huge game to do so, beating Roma in a six-pointer at San Siro.
As Corriere della Sera (via MilanNews) report this morning, it was not a vintage Milan win. Roma created plenty of chances, while the Rossoneri – as Massimiliano Allegri himself stated post-match – made every mistake they could possibly make in trying to get a foothold in the game.
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Then, however, came the turning point that changed the game: a lightning-fast run from Rafael Leao and a goal from Strahinja Pavlovic. The home side took their moment, and then on the balance of play in the second half (with some huge missed chances) they deserved their win.
It could have still been a very different outcome, though. In the final minutes they had to thank Mike Maignan for saving a penalty from Paulo Dybala, after Youssouf Fofana’s handball had given the visitors a spot kick.
A test of character
With the win, Milan moved to within one point of first-place Napoli, who drew 0-0 against Como on Saturday. Roma and Inter are also in second place, level on points with the Rossoneri in what is a cluster at the top of the table.
The performance was a display of character from Allegri’s side, who are still without two key players in Adrien Rabiot and Christian Pulisic. They initially struggled but then managed to bounce back, deserving of a return to winning ways after two consecutive draws against Pisa and Atalanta.
After the match, Allegri commented on his team’s performance in an honest way: “Roma absolutely deserved the lead in the first 35 minutes. We made a lot of technical mistakes, they put us under a lot of pressure, and they became boring.
“Once we broke the deadlock, we adjusted our defensive posture differently and then had several clear chances. In the final 25 minutes, we struggled little, apart from the free kick and the penalty.
“This is an important victory . Now we need to recover to prepare well for Saturday. Between Pisa and Cremonese, we only got one point, so we need to prepare as best as possible for the trip to Parma.”
Allegri is already looking ahead and hoping for both Pulisic and Rabiot to be fit for the match at the weekend, the last one before the final international break of 2025.
Allegri is completely right, Parma game is tougher for us than against top teams. Against Napoli and Roma 6 points, against Pisa and Cremonese 1 point.
Still the same team after all, always beating the top teams then struggle against the bottom teams. Inter is the only top team we have to play, the rest are all teams in the bottom half of the table. Allergi have to figure out this strange phenomenon.
It’s not a “strange” phenomenon.
Our players tend to be motivated when against tough opposition, being underdogs, having something to prove,…
But when against weaker teams, they let their foot off the gas, don’t focus as much, forwards don’t drop to help the defense,… they get complacent and overconfident, which lead to frustration when the score isn’t going our way, which lead to bad decisions and even more frustration.
Last season we had a similar phenomenon when we always win against Inter, arguably the best team in Italy last season, but fumble every other game.
In addition to that, top teams want to win, so they attack us, allowing us to exploit the inevitable gaps in their defenses when they’re up high and we win the ball. But bottom tier teams are ok with a draw or even a small loss, so they never overcommit to attack, sit deep and never give us gaps to exploit.
I think Milan have this “Underdog Mentality”.
They perform well as an underdog and struggle as the favourites.
I’ve seen this play out over and over again…
We Really need to get that fixed…
We always lack intensity against lesser teams.