Zlatan Ibrahimovic remains the leader in the AC Milan squad and he deserves a lot of credit for guiding a young group on a resurgence since he came back 18 months ago, but there are some interesting trends regarding his impact on the team.
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La Gazzetta dello Sport writes how the most simple metric to measure Ibrahimovic’s impact is that he has scored 8 goals in 15 games, 2 more than Rafael Leao and 3 more than Olivier Giroud in terms of leading scoring for the team.
However, the Swede is at great risk of missing the crucial derby on Saturday against Inter due to inflammation and pain in the Achilles tendon that he sustained against Juventus, which then provokes the comparison of how Milan cope without him versus with him.
So far he has played 11 games in the league, scoring 7 goals, which have resulted in 4 wins, 3 draws and 4 defeats for the Rossoneri, with 18 goals scored and 15 conceded at an average points per game of 1.36. The wins came against Bologna, Roma, Genoa and Venezia.
With Ibrahimovic not starting (therefore coming on as a substitute or missing the game entirely) Milan racked up 11 wins and a draw, without losing. On four occasions the Swedish forward came off the bench, scoring in the 2-0 against Lazio that is his most recent goal at San Siro. When he came off the bench, Milan got 12 points from a possible 12.
When Ibra did not start, Milan scored 28 goals and conceded only 10, with an average points per game of 2.83. With the Swede now missing several matches due to Covid and various injuries which are to be expected at 40, it serves as a reassurance that the Rossoneri can win the big games without him.
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