AC Milan secured a draw in the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final against Inter. A few players did really well and below are the ratings for the Rossoneri.
If you haven’t already, make sure to check out how we decide the player ratings. From the scale to what affects the rating, we have compiled everything there.
Starting XI
Maignan (8 – MOTM): It was his best game of the season. Some of the saves made tonight were outstanding, including one on Zalewski towards the end and then on Mkhitaryan. He was good with his feet too and could do little about the goal, seeing as his field of vision was blocked by two players (and the shot took a slight deflection).
Walker (6): It was decent from the Englishman, a lot better than what we have seen lately actually. He clearly focused more on defending tonight and it worked, dropping down as a third centre-back most of the time. If it hadn’t been for that missed clearance at the end, which would have been a goal without Maignan’s heroics, Walker’s rating would have been a bit higher.
Gabbia (6.5): Good positioning and some nice aerial duels won, including a good cross for Inter that he just about got to. Above all, his consistency this game – getting the job done without any questionable actions – is the reason for the rating.
Thiaw (6): The German international arguably should have been carded early on, when Theo was booked instead, after a reckless challenge. He was a bit too rash on a couple more occasions, including one when he got done by Thuram. That being said, he was good in possession and also had a crucial intervention (as well as a few other good ones) at the end of the first half.
Hernandez (6): It was a rather harsh yellow card that he received, let’s be honest, and overall he did well defensively. The end product could have been better in attack, that’s for sure, but at the same time he continued the good link-up with Leao.
Fofana (7): His best game in quite some time, in my opinion, as he managed to win back the ball several times, using his body and strength in the best way possible. The positioning was also very good throughout the game, as we saw with the (slightly lucky) assist for Abraham’s goal. Still, he was there and that’s what matters, while we also saw some great passes tonight.
Reijnders (7.5): From the first minute, he caused issues for Inter and it was mainly thanks to his positioning. The ability to find space in between the midfield and defence should not be underestimated, and we got to see some nice throughballs as a result (one for Abraham in particular). In games like these, his ability on the ball is a must for Milan.
Jimenez (5.5): He was decent in possession, both in the build-up and in attack, but questions can definitely be asked about the defending. In addition to some sloppy fouls, one of which in a dangerous position, it felt like he didn’t drop down enough on some occasions which stretched the defence a lot.
Pulisic (5.5): His movement between the lines was the only positive today, as that at least helped Milan open up space and force the Inter defenders to act. However, he didn’t add much in attack and also lost the ball a few times, once leading to a great counter for the away side.
Inter also found too much space in the middle, so defensively Pulisic didn’t quite adjust to the No.10 role (as you can also see on the goal, he was to the right then).
Leao (6.5): Some 1v1s won, some lost. On the whole, though, Inter put three men on him and that obviously helped Milan create chances elsewhere, which the winger understood as he often laid off the ball after a short possession spell. The crossing could have been slightly better, but he had a very good shot saved in the first half. As said, good link-up with Theo again as well.
Abraham (7.5): In the first half, he had many good runs and always made sure to be available, which in turn meant he was involved a lot. He almost made the most of a Reijnders pass then but in the second, he got the goal after a great turn. Everyone thought he would pass Fofana, who had a great position, but the turn was just the right move (and what a strike as well). Si è girato Abraham…
Substitutes
Sottil (5.5): A couple of runs forward, winning a free-kick once, but overall he didn’t really add much to the game at all.
Joao Felix (5.5): It’s difficult to assess his rating, given how Milan played towards the end, but he did make a pretty clumsy mistake which led to an Inter counter.
Gimenez (N/A): Probably should have had a free-kick after a good run but aside from that, we didn’t see enough to give him a rating.
Bondo (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating.
Chukwueze (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating.
Young Jimenez was one of the best in attack.
From him we make a goal and he helped a lot in defending….
We need more of players like him – giving more at the pitch.
Like dude didn’t stop running for once, if only the front line can apply same spirit, we’d be in top 4 right now.
Yeah, that’s why we have completely different narrative in media: – Milan is bringing Paratici, Italian coach plus Italian players, after disaster with foreign youngsters and foreign opportunity players, who get in the team only for money and doesn’t care a lot about Ac Milan pride and fight.
With Jimenez I would pick Pulisic and Reijnders, who deserve to stay in team and all others are more for sale or bench.
Isn’t Jimenez foreign, or are we talking about another Jimenez?
You are right
How is it possible for Joao Felix to get 5.5???
Together with Red Bird, Conceicao and Fonseca managed to crash Ac Milan.
It is pretty clear now. We can say also how some players did protest during season….
It almost feels like super agent mendes is getting kickbacks
Walker was responsible for their best chances – at the end of both halves. Hardly a 6 IMO, considering he barely got forward to make up for it.
Wasn’t Walker supposed to be the solution to all of our defensive problems? Everyone wanted Walker…
Jimenez 5.5 it’s a joke, the young lad overworked, unless the rating person wanted him to perform a Messi mixed with a Casemero defending, he did his job well and he was clearly overworked.
About the match, it’s still same old same old, the pressing and the defending structure is still a mystery for the coaching staff to unravel, I just don’t know if they don’t see what we see.
The pressing is the laziest pressing I have ever seen in football and our play from the back has to be the biggest joke ever, players are no where to collect balls and it just makes everything a dread to watch.
There are little twigs that a good coach has to do, and to be able to adapt players and the team to play according to thier strengths and we’d have a formidable team.
I’d hope we build on this but these players have to be thier selves again.
Agreed, I still can’t understand why our defense like to leave so much space around our penalty box, even sometimes inside the box (like what happened with Lukaku’s goal last weekend). Our defenders getting caught out of position feels like a routine this season, and there were too many half-assed pressing from the players, that’s why we conceded so many goals from outside the box since the opponents have space & time to make their shot. It is quite odd that Fonseca & Conceicao couldn’t find a solution to this obvious problem, or is it probably a problem caused more by the players?
Decent, more or less even game. Fair result that.
One of the rare positive things this season is Milan playing even or outplaying their biggest rival.
Pulisic was awful today. He did nothing right all game long and should have been subbed earlier than he did.
Great performance by Maignan. The rest were OK.
Great goal by Tammy. It sure did looked a lot like Giroud.
Hopefully they can play at least 2 more good games this season in the 2nd leg vs Inter and then in the final.
We were just lucky that inter had so many absences (Lautaro, Dimarco, Dumfries and they played an entire half without Mkhitaryan) and yet they still looked like the more dangerous team.
If it wasn’t for Mike’s monstreous performance, we will be looking at a defeat by a huge margin.
The fact that Milan are unbeatable in 4 games vs Inter, and won at Bernabeu, shows that team mentality is primarily to be blamed for the current situation. In other words, these players can do better than a 9th place and such a kickout in the UCL, but they don’t want to. It is primarily a lack of desire, not of quality.
9th place is a bit harsh and is a result of the mess in the club, but even in technical sense, we are far from scudetto material unless a coach like Conte or Allegri brings more out of these players, turning them into 1-0 machines. We’re truly lacking in the defensive department. Theo is the only player who would play for a scudetto contender and he seems disinterested ever since Paolo left. Thiaw has potential, but he needs to step up. That’s about it. Fofana is not a true DM and Walker helps with experience in theory, but his best years are behind him. The midfield options have been limited all season, with TJ and Fofana doing wonders by just entering the field for the 40th time… in early April. We also don’t have a Lautaro/Lukaku/Muani, although Santi should be given time and has potential.
That’s plenty of issues that have nothing to do with desire and were clearly not solved by the incompetent management.
Yeah, this Milan is not Scudetto material, but still good enough technically to get a top 4 spot. Atalanta and especially Napoli have inferior teams on paper. It is not like the rivals are world beaters. There are other serious issues, I agree, but team mentality is the biggest of all.
Sometimes the only thing you can do about that is to get rid of those players. For example Theo has been criticized from the beginning of his time at Milan for his defensive lackadaisicalness and his discipline, same for Leao (although in his case, being an attacker, it’s easier to accept). These players, and others who have other football IQ, discipline and effort issues are all basically mid-career. Nothing will fix that now. If a player doesn’t want to run back to his position after an attack at the age of 26 or 27, it’s game over. So, move them on, and bring in players who have the right mentality.
Yes, when you pay millions of euros, you expect them to be mentally ready to succeed. Selling those who do not have the mindset to play in high levels is a natural, expectable step.
Also, I am not defending Theo, just noting that some players maybe just need to be rotated more, to avoid both mental and physical tiredness. People say that Dimarco is better than Theo. Yes, Dimarco is playing much better, but look at the stats. Dimarco is heavily rotated, usually playing less than 90 mins, to save energy. On the other hand, Theo is overplayed to the end; maybe he would be better performing if Milan had a serious rotation option.
potpuno se slažem
Awful season by all metrics yet we are still somehow undefeated against Inter…
We should win it by miles with inter’s squad.
And that was the thing that made people obsessed with getting rid of Pioli, his inability to heat Inter. I assume those folk think this has been a really successful season so far then.
Fofana was great in ball recovery, very bad with his ball distribution. If we get De Zerbi for sure he cannot play, he is completely unfit for that type of game.
You know one of the reasons pioli was fired is because he lost several games in a row to inter. Well ,theh fixed that issue but they forgot how to play against the rest lol
I just know this $hitty team better than conceisao
bb
2 April 2025, 12:08 at 12:08 pm
With our idiotic defence reaction and defence support among the players ,we should play 6-3-1 and it would still be a shaky hollow defence ,i already see how they let calhanoglu open shots from 20 m distance,or how they forgeting to cover their wingbacks as always
Tammy if his price only 10-15m euro should be stay in ACM, he is not goal scoring machine like haaland but his grinta and team player spirit can help leao, puli, Tiji scoring goal. You can also save money alot from buying new striker if buy Tammy and use that money to buy Ricci ( player that are good on ball distribution for de zerbi or gasperini or Sarri tactic in new season).
I tell you for 100 reasons, there’s no Ricci will go to Milan. Milan already have reijnders / Bondo. No need more. Hes price is out of Milan world bro..
Not if owner really buys his director advice.
Not if owner really buys his director advice…
Thiaw shows couple defense error. He should block shot before hakan goal. Clearly not improvement from thiaw, thanks to super save from maignan leg.
It’s laughable how whoever the bum american who writes these articles try to find anything good to say about the overrated overhyped Chelsea bench employee pulisic every tie he always suck in big matches !!!! He is a small match average player and u know it but still keep singing that crappy songs and always try to attack Leao needless to say he is the only world class player we got !!!!! What a fool
Lol wild take for our best goal scorer. Take your biases elsewhere. He has been scoring against big clubs including chamipons league so you’re wrong
You need professional help.
How can we lose so many possesion by almost two third of the game with no Lautaro
I saw different energy in midfield from both Reijnders and Fofana. Their positioning was good and Fofana even managed few nice recoveries.
Still, we get easily outnumbered and overrun in midfield. We need more density and bodies in the middle. Seeing tireless Jimenez I cannot stop questioning how 343 with Jimenez-Fofana-Reijnders-Theo would work. 343 could work even for Musah on that right flank.
I really don’t get all the experimenting with defence duo when Thiaw-Gabbia showed many times before, they are our best central pair. Numbers don’t lie.
Magic Mike did it again. Kudos to our captain.
J. Felix 5.5 how? The guy should not score above 2.
All the substitutes had no impact on the game. It was like disorganisation.
I think we can still play 3-4-2-1 with Walker or Tomori at the right side of the CB. Jimenez or Pulisic at RW, Theo LW, Abraham and Leao plays behind Gimenez.
Conceiceo needs to be creative.
Great game by Mike…just what we needed. I still have reservations about Fofana…he lacks the most critical element to take his game to the next level, decision making when in possession ( aimless rushed misdirected passess). Probably a technically astute coach will correct that weakness. Inter nearly caught us out with a few identical moves that left our defenders stranded…diagonal passes into the Milan box after a byline run with a whole line of Inter players left unattended in shooting positions ( scary how the coach didnt pick that up and corrected it after the break). The positioning of our defenders will remain a sticky issue ( Lukaku’s goal the most recent example). We need to press more a bit and learn to fight for those 50/50 chances…Inter just simply bulldozed us of the balls when we should be showing a bit more grit. We hope for a better compactness and more fight with the next game.
Inter fan told the truth … Respect to your honesty!
Some of you do not understand football…. Puli cannot perform well as an AM against Inter, that’s why Pioli liked to use Loftus-Cheek there, he wanted physicality on Inter’s CDM ( Hakan), to stop him from dictating the game! In CL he onced used Bennacer instead of Diaz , cause he wanted to pressure Hakan , same as J.Park did with Pirlo… I think we need Loftus-Cheek to do this dirty job in the second leg !!!!
LINCOLN JP ; 343 will regres pulisic and Tijji… Both will have to defend more than usual and dont forget that they are both our best chance of creating something… And Leao , we all know that he is not a central player, he needs space to make runs!!
4321, 433, 442 or 424 is our only options with the available players !
LET’S BE REALISTIC !!
Not more than they have to defend now in 4231 where neither of them is capable of holding down the midfield, hence why Jimenez acted as another midfielder or at least another player in the middle last night.
Those 3 man midfield formations you listed require a natural DM. And I don’t see one in this team for last 3 seasons. Since what we have are mezzala’s and b2b’s, a 4 man middle is the way to go because numbers. And density. 343 is best option with players at disposal.
41 comments only on a post match Player Ratings article. Particularly a post derby game.
It seems Milans have checked out on this season.
A day later its just 44 comments (mine would be 45).
Before, every time I read the match ratings a day after the game, the average amount of comments are around 120>.
Everyone is most likely tired of ranting about the same things, without changes, all year round.
Well it’s kinda hard to beat a de.ad horse every week. Look at the international break….Theo is bad was the narrative. I know this is amalgamation site but it also adds to the narratives other outlets put out. I’d like to see more form their authors tbh and see where their thoughts lay. There is a vacuum that can be filled and it’s about going against the grain. Why is the narrative Theo bad? He’s not having a great season granted, we all know that but what gets glossed over for me is him playing a whole season of games more than anyone else over the last 4-5 years. That’s not something to gloss over..it’s imo probably the main cause of his fatigue. But he gets blamed alot, the guy with zero subs while others have ppl who can fill their role. Same for Leao or “lazy Leao”. I mean how many times do we have to hear that mantra. “His form has dropped” or he’s not performing like seasons before. Sure…on whole numbers but his goal affecting stats are still the highest for the team..He’s on 20 goal contributions right now, and based on his average this season should end up with another 4 by end of season ie 24. It’s only 4 less than his best season (last 2 seasons). Yet he gets villianized. How? Why? That’s just frustrating as a fan to read everytime. It’s only one GC less than Pulisic best season ie last year and the best of Pulisic’s entire career…but we don’t get those things said about Puli (fyi I like both of them, just pointing out the hypocrisy). But the Leao narrative is negative. His “bad” season this season is better than most. And it’s not too far away from his good season. Maybe there’s an expectation thats out of reach. He’s not Vini, he’s not at that level but he is at a fantastic level nonetheless. I dislike seeing the ills of the team being blamed on the players. Pulisic’s lack of form confirms this notion. It’s not them. The environment needs fixing and thats really the problem. I have a feeling people might be tired or hearing the same thing over and over again 🤷♂️
The midfield needs to stop shooting 35 yards from goal, so frustrating to watch.