AC Milan needed to win their game against Porto this evening but after conceding early in the first half, they only got a draw out of it. Down below are the player ratings of the Rossoneri.
Starting XI
Tatarusanu (7 – MOTM): The Romanian has certainly turned things around after having been heavily criticised for his performances between the sicks. Was spot on with his distribution today and also made an incredible reflex save to keep Milan in the game at 0-1.
Calabria (5.5): He was very out of touch this evening and, of course, struggled a whole lot with Luis Diaz on the left flank. It wasn’t what we are used to and he will have to step it up at the weekend.
Tomori (6.5): He did get carded but was crucial for Milan to deal with the pace of the Porto attackers. Tough for him to do anything about the goal as the whole defence was caught off guard due to Bennacer’s mistake.
Romagnoli (5.5): There’s just such a massive difference from when Kjaer is playing. Held back the line on Porto’s goal (but can’t really fault him) and was often too careful with his passing. Not a great outing, in short.
Hernandez (6.5): He was able to drain all of his energy as he will be suspended at the weekend. Tonight he was more composed and was probably Milan’s most dangerous man. Made several runs and troubled the Porto defence.
Bennacer (6): In the first half, the Algerian was very bad and made the big mistake that led to Porto’s goal, and it wasn’t the only time he lost the ball. In the second half, however, he upped himself and not just a little, dominating at times. But consistency was missing tonight.
Tonali (6.5): Continues to be very important for Milan when driving the ball forward, setting up attacks. However, he was most important when tracking back today as he intercepted the ball in spectacular fashion several times.
Saelemaekers (5.5): He worked hard, that’s what we always say. But it has come to a point where he never gets anything out of it, missing chances and really looking like anything but dangerous. He must improve and soon.
Diaz (6): He wasn’t too involved in the play and that’s because Milan struggled to play past Porto’s first press for the entire game. The No.10, furthermore, has only just returned and perhaps wasn’t 100% but the little we did see was good.
Leao (6.5): Just like Hernandez, he was almost the only hope for Milan this evening and although he was a bit shy in the first, he made himself seen in the second half with some good dribbling and one-on-ones.
Giroud (5.5): He was involved in the goal Milan scored, quickly realising that the ball was within reach and firing towards goal. However, his contribution in open play just wasn’t good enough over the 76 minutes he played.
Substitutes
Kalulu (6.5): Compared to Calabria, he was much better in the defensive phase and almost neutralised Luis Diaz. He got the goal, although it was put down as an own-goal, finding a way past the goalkeeper with a smart effort.
Kessie (6.5): Added presence to the midfield and a bit more physicality which, unfortunately, didn’t help much a Porto was good at keeping the ball. But he did well tonight, the Ivorian.
Krunic (5.5): He did win some duels and tried his best but missed a key pass to Theo, or rather he hit it too late. It would’ve been a sure goal for Milan (when Theo crossed to Ibra).
Ibrahimovic (N/A): He didn’t play enough to get a rating.
Maldini (N/A): He didn’t play enough to get a rating.
READ MORE – AC Milan 1-1 Porto: Rossoneri battle back for a draw but fall short in must-win game
Why will pioli wait so long to introduce Zlatan. Are you keeping him for a derby that you’re leading inter with much points. It will be a big shame if Milan looses that match against inter. Cause his tactics is all in vain. We really needed this match.. Bennecear caused both goals. Milan need to learn how to play and not wait for the ref.. Play to the whistle and don’t wait on the whistle. We keep making this error since beginning of this season. And it is costing us dearly.
Totally agree, also against Roma a couple of times Theo stop to play waiting for a referee whistle.
“Why will pioli wait so long to introduce Zlatan.”- Probably because he’s 40 and there is a derby coming up this weekend in a competition we’ve got a chance of winning?
Poor Pioli. He can not see that Tonali has pace and can dribble very well. Tonali would be better at playing as attacking midfielder or as playmaker. Tonight, we could replace Diaz with Kessie and let Tonali as attacking midfielder.
I 100% disagree that Tonali would be a better attacking mid.
He is great in a position he is playing and he is def not Attacking Midfielder.
Sale is so ready to be loaned to some serie C club.
I support you. The guy is just playing like headless chicken
I didn’t know if Giroud was our player or an opponent he was just a waste of our 11th man slot, Lord krunic would have done a better job than what he did today, was caught offside everytime Milan tried to counter, the pressing was poor lacking coordination in the first half. Having said that, we need to let Romagnoli go come summer window we have had a good run. We are desperately in need of a right winger cus Saelemaekers isn’t the real deal as we offer zero threat from that position, immediately Porto crowded the left flank and choked Theo in the first half we were lacking ideas. Overall the second half was a bit encouraging, we need those January signings ASAP.
The management has to move in the Winter market, 1) Saelemaekers can no longer play as a starter in this team, and 2) It’s unacceptable that the closer thing we have to a substitute of Brahim when he’s not having a good night is Maldini or Krunic.
Disappointing result, but somehow we’re not out yet. Liverpool is putting Atletico to the sword, 2-0 at 23 min. If this result holds we have a 1% chance, and if we beat Atletico and Liverpool and Porto only takes one point from their final two matches we would qualify. Looong shot, but still a shot!
Another out is beating At. Madrid by two goals or more, and beating Liverpool, while hoping Porto don’t get more than a draw v. Liverpool. Then if At. Madrid beats Porto we’d be level on points, with Madrid (7 pts) but owning the tie-breaker.
Undoubtedly, but I honestly think that Milan needs another coach to return as European champions. I am not despising Pioli. Except that he lacks the character of other coaches who also choose their players. Just look at Conte what he just requested while going to Tottenham. Milan needs a coach who is more demanding. Pioli is good, but not demanding enough in my opinion
@notyourproblem
Lol i’m sorry but are you just start following football or something? 😂
Totenham got bought by an Arabian syeikh who have A LOT of money. So of course Conte will ask for everything!
Meanwhile Milan doesn’t have money. Most newest players are on loan or bought pretty cheap. Pioli can’t demand Milan bring Mbappe, Haland, or whoever expensives players that you think they fit for Milan lol.
You are fully wrong. Tottenham didn’t get bought by any Arabian Sheikh. You are confusing it with Newcastle. Tottenham’s owner is Daniel Levy, who is a rich Britishman. I know that Milan does not have money as Tottenham does. But Conte requested Inter to buy players for him. I am sure that other coaches could do similar things for Milan. Maybe not the most expensive ones as you are naming them, but some others for Milan’s budget.
Furthermore what I am trying to say is that Maldini feels more like the coach at acquiring the players than Pioli does. Please re-check your information before arguing because what you said is completely mistaken. Please take a look at who the owner of Tottenham is. Also Tottenham has made more money because of the Premier League has better TV rights for all the teams and they have known how to promote and advertise the team much better than most teams in Italy have done it, besides Juventus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tottenham_Hotspur_F.C.
@notyourproblem
Ok i mistake Totenham with Newcastle but still Totenham have more money than Milan. In fact, even any EPL clubs like Leicester or Everton have more money than Milan. That’s why Conte can demand expensives A,B,C from Z players because he knew the owner have a buttloads of money.
But Pioli doesn’t have the same luxury as Conte at Totenham or Inter. Even if Milan replaced Pioli with a new coach, that new coach will end up just like Pioli.
So this isn’t the problem with Pioli but it’s the reality that Milan are not a rich club anymore who can buy any expensive players like in Berlusconi era.
Exactly. Mid-table EPL clubs have more funds than the top Italian clubs. Fact.
We don’t deserve to qualify.
Im sorry but i do not agree with your late raitings on Theo.
The man is big and fast and all, but a leaf would make him fall to the floor in agony..
He’s our left back and he gets rounded almost every time. ALSO, he almost never works back.. AND HE’S OUR LEFT BACK for crying out loud.. He is supposed to be good ad nr.1 Defending, then he can attack.
We sit around and defend the guy because he has been incredible earlier, but at this point i think it is ridicilous..
He’s becoming a bigger moviestar than Will Smith.. And to top it all it looks like he is trying to judge the match himself..
So often he runs up field he is way to focused on the ball to notice when to pass or even when to do something to avoid getting tackled. He the usually falls, screaming. The referee sees nothing wrong with the tackle and then the opposition gets a counter and you can see on the edge of the screen sitting on his ass complaining on the ref up field while the rest of the lads has to take on the counter..
I think it’s time Pioli bench him and start Fode Ballo Toure, just to teach him a lesson.
I made the same basic comment in reply to an article rating the players for the Roma game and I was almost crucified. PSG, please gift us 70m for him. For less than half the price we could get a good proper LB and also fund another two positions (RW and AMC?). That would be a transfer coup.
But I think that happens because Pioli is not as demanding as he should be. It seems sometimes that players have more power than the coach!!!
Agree on saelemakers and giroud..but this Milan certainly lacks of continental experiences..last season EL also saw us beaten by Lille..if we will qualify for CL 2 straight seasons then we may have the needed cash for luring better player or extends the contract (kessie perhaps if he stay).
But Milan DNA now maybe “almost CL”
Now bring the derby in!! Forza Milan!!
All I seen is headless chickens running around the sansiro …gifting the ball again and again to Porto and looking clueless…disgusting..really we are not team worth of playing in UCL…
Saelemaeker is not worth of 5.5 …he is not starter…Giroud is always in the f… offside..
The headless chicken Saelemaekers needs to be dropped. Even Samu would’ve done better. He just isn’t up to standard. He can’t pass, can’t defend all he does is lose possession. Time for him to go. I hope Messias or Florenzi can recover as soon as possible.
Pioli for all his much Ado lately is still a (Normal One) Simply put, He’s still an average coach, just as naive as the team he’s in charge of, But he’s definitely growing. little by little Milan would get there most Definitely! Scudetto is still our best Shot.
True. If we had Pep and HAUGE we’d be winning the Champions League this year. Saelemaekers Balon D’Or winner. Giroud Golden Boot.
I can’t tell if you’re joking but stop it with the Hauge nonsense.
I’m obviously joking. You think Saelemaekers is going to win the Balon D’Or?
Saelemakers have more chances to win Balon D’or compare to your boyfriend Hauge. Heck, even Kalulu have better chances to win Balon D’or than Hauge.
Lmao i hope you’re joking cause your comment is one of the dumbest thing i ever read in this comment section.
Bro, I’m joking. Obviously. Come on!
Making fun of all the Hauge fanboys and #Pioliout and #Elliottout idiots.
What we can see from Milan in UCL, they need to improve their quality for next season in several positions: replace Romagnoli with a better player; keep Kessie; a better right winger, another high quality playmaker, and a strong striker.
And another DEFENSIVE midfielder.
Spot on.
Well not getting a RW in the summer came back to haunt us. Salemakers contribute in attack is one big zero.
Yes they gotta spend on a mature RW player and not potential player
What was Pioli thinking, not starting Ibra and Kessie was a cardinal sin. Did he not want to win this game? Is he focusing more on the derby and relinquishing the Champions league? Sometimes I feel like he’s a coach with very limited abilities.
Saelemaekers clearly looks tired and his game depends so heavily on energy. The Massias injury really limited the attacking depth which is clearly denying the potency of attacks.
I did like seeing Kessie playing higher than normal. With how ineffective Giroud is at pressing that might be a nice alternative.
I know Giroud has been scoring but man he seems like a waste. His offsides are so frustrating because they are the type that come from not running back. It’s just laziness and sluggishness. So many attacks wasted by his lack of effort tonight.
No, buying Messias in the first place was the mistake. Berardi should have been bought this summer and the team would look miles better because we’d actually have threats on both flanks. Then when you need to lock a game down put on Saelemaekers because he has no quality but a high work rate.
These ratings are so high I didn’t even bother reading the descriptions.
Bennacer, Calabria, Theo and Brahim were so bad like it wasn’t possible to be worse. None of them deserve more than 4 maybe 4.5
Don’t get me wrong Theo is great but I think he is so selfish sometimes. We had at least 4 or 5 chances for counter attacking for goals, and Theo wasted because of his selfishness. He is continuously losing the ball even on counter attacking or defending. This has to be manager fault for not telling him to stop doing that. If he is playing under Pep or Conte managements, he would get roasted right on the pitch.
Also, Pioli made too many mistakes with the line up.
First with Giroud, he does not have ability for a hold up play forward as Ibra and has zero chemistry with Salemaker, And Leao.
Secondly, Diaz is not fit enough for this game. Third, I think Pioli should start Bennacer and Kessie instead of Tonali. Tonali would be great to start the Derby on the weekend. In the high press games like this, Bennacer and Kessie would have a better chemistry to hold up the midfield.
Finally, Romanogli isn’t in good form to start and seem not to understand Tomori as much as Kajer.
So glad to see someone else sharing what i aslo think. We have defended Theo for to long now.
The guy is great and all but holy crap, he is so bad at defending which is the first thing he should be good at since he is our god damn left back..
And yeah regarding losing the ball. Either it’s Pioli’s fault, or it’s because Theo just doesn’t look up. He is to busy running as fast as he can with ball at his feet.
It really seems like all the attention has gotten to his head, and that he thinks he’s one of the best.. Don’t get me wrong, he is high up in the ranking among LB’s in the world.
But the guy is tall and strong, so he should not drop to the floor as soon as someone touches him. It’s a pattern the referees has begun to take notice of. Theo also looks like he is trying to be the referee aswell as LB and attacker.
And he almost never works back after loosing a ball up field.. Which then makes someone else take over his position..
To be honest I am actually so sick of watching him play..
It is evident that to the Dumbo Pioli can not take Milan anywhere.
Can anyone explain the removal of Leao for Maldini??? Can anyhow explain why Ibra played only 15minutes with poor game Giroud was having???
Our performance in the league is more because of the players we have than Pioli.
Milan need a Champions League capable Coach
Precisely. When we get Klopp or Pep next season we’ll be 11-0-0 in the league and showing clubs like Liverpool how it’s done. Ibra will play every position every game all game, even when injured. And when we get HAUGE back our LB problems are over. Leao will be given some of Pep’s special sauce so he can run for 90 minutes every three days non-stop. And of course we’ll get Haaland. #PioliOut #MaldiniOut #ELIOTout
maybe, we dont give a damn anymore about ECL. gotto win the derby KEK
Thank you.
You just said my mind.
Pioli is so average.He understands just one formation.once,it’s distorted that’s all.
Other coaches are beginning to know that.
Leao is not in the game man..have expected the change right from the Half time
Honestly the target was to qualify for champions league not to take it, but now the demands are even higher and that’s to take the league so I think we should focus on the league rather not champions league, u can’t be using none experience players to do good in champions league competition.
Pato God bless you for the comments.where did conte ended last season?
holy shit these comment, everyone is master tactician here. ac milan should hire u guys to be the manager. PIOLI OUT
It look like Porto players are more fitter than Milan players. If I have my way Saelemaekers will be loan out to China 3rd division team.
Millan needs, upgrade in RW, STRIKER and good back up playmaker and better defender to replace Romagnoli, he is so ineffective.
Since day one, I never see reason of buying Giroud and as at this moment I haven’t see any gain from him. We need young, hardworking and fast striker even Zlatan at 40 is much better than Giroud.
Theo needs to sit up, if not sale him.
I think all the players are too comfortable with the ways they are under Pioli. They aren’t ready to move away from their comfort zone and challenge themselves. They need new challenges to improve.
All other teams now know that our greatest threat always come from the left side and they always try to load that side to stop Milan, which point to the need of getting better RW, to balance Milan game, this need to be address by January.
Let forget UCL and focus on serie A
This, 300% this.
We’re just missing some key players and we still don’t have that depth needed. RW, ST and AMC, possibly in their early or mid 20s and unlike Pietro, able to play more than 20 minutes without getting injured.
When we didn’t go for Berardi this summer and thought Saelemaekers was good enough to start is when we gave up any CL hopes.
They even extend his contract. Maybe they are expecting to change from natural defender to wingback for a cheap price but they let UCL go cus of this.