AC Milan secured one point in the away clash against Atalanta this evening, thanks to a second-half strike by Ismael Bennacer. Down below are the player ratings of the Rossoneri, with a few disappointing ones.
Starting XI
Maignan (6): He couldn’t do much about the goal, given the deflection, and he did well to keep a few shots out as well. A decent display from the goalkeeper but it’s a shame he didn’t get a clean sheet this time either.
Calabria (6): Ultimately, he won quite a few 1v1 situations and thus cannot be criticised too much for tonight’s display. He perhaps should have been bolder in the attack, especially in the second half when Atalanta left him unmarked.
Kalulu (6): His rating is saved by the fact that the deflection on Atalanta’s goal is very hard to avoid. He did well otherwise and it would be incredibly harsh to not give him a pass just because of the deflection.
Tomori (6): A solid display but nothing more from the big man at the back. He did quite well with his passing and that helped Milan in times of trouble, but very much a standard display from him.
Hernandez (6.5): He was a force for Milan when going forward and he also did well in the defensive phase. It’s a shame his efforts didn’t come to more as he had a few really good moments (should have had an assist for Messias).
Bennacer (7.5 – MOTM): He continued to be the engine for Milan and although he failed to keep the tempo up towards the end of the first half, he responded in the second and led Milan’s charge. He ended up getting the crucial equaliser with a great strike as well.
Tonali (6): Some good, some poor moments from the Italian this evening. He’s finding his rhythm again but the feeling is that he has another level to reach, especially in the attacking phase.
Messias (5): It’s not been a good start to the season for the Brazilian, at all. He had several poor touches and also missed a huge opportunity in the first half. He arguably should have squared it for an open goal but he even failed to hit the target with his effort.
Diaz (5.5): He was involved in a few good moves but ultimately faded until he was subbed off. De Ketelaere had a bigger impact, but it should also be noted that the Belgian also struggled to get on the ball.
Leao (5.5): He can do so much better. We saw glimpses of the ‘Leao hack’ when he beats his man but nothing came of it in the end. In fact, it was very frustrating to watch him at times.
Rebic (5.5): His first touch was too poor and that hurt him a lot, given that Milan needed him as a sort of focal point in the attack. It just wasn’t his evening.
Substitutes
Giroud (6): He did an okay job individually but above all, his presence changed the game slightly for Milan and that allowed for some momentum (just before Bennacer scored).
De Ketelaere (6): He had a few good flicks and one great pass for Tonali (Musso ended up saving the shot). There’s a lot of talent in him and he can do a lot of good, but he didn’t get on the ball enough to get a higher rating.
Saelemaekers (6): He got the assist for Bennacer by keeping the ball alive near the corner flag and he also looked quite bright. He should start the next game.
Origi (5.5): He wasn’t necessarily that bad but it just didn’t work out for him this evening. Also, he didn’t track back enough on the left, although Pioli might be the one to blame for that.
Florenzi (5.5): Some good passes, but one very poor free-kick to end the game.
Rebic 5.5? Rebic was literally carrying the attack on his own, Leao was just strolling around all the positions in the pitch, lazying about doing nothing, Tomori could be seen telling him to move forward…….Rebic suffered because of lazy attitude of Leao, rebic will presses while leao is jugging, dude thinking serie A mvp is ballondor.
Milan dropped two point, we could have won if we had a better line up…..Leao should have exited after first half and rebic should have move up there and giroud take the center…..Leao lost the match for us
You just don’t like Leao, he was far better than Rebic, Leao was drawing 2defenders everything he touches the ball, but our attackers didn’t capitalize on that
You’re joking. Rebic was rubbish. His first touch was awful, he got a pointless yellow card. His pressing was good, but he was too much of a liability on the ball. At least Leao is dangerous when he gets the ball. They were putting two players on him the entire match and he created a few really good openings.
I don’t know what game you were watching but you must be related to Rebic. He was awful this game. His first touch was way too heavy every time , his passing was terrible and he didn’t get have one shot the entire game. He should never have been starting, Giroud has earned that spot and he shouldn’t lose it because he misses 1 game, but thats Pioli’s mistake. same with Diaz, he proved last season that he wasn’t starting level, but he has one good game and Pioli loves him again.
Rebic killed our attack man. His first touch and ball control were terrible. He couldn’t hold possession nor did he link well with others. He should be benched next match
Rebic, Messias and Leao were terrible. Rebic lost the ball every time he touched it
For once I’m with Kossy 100% here. Well… not 100% but close. Rebic wasn’t that good but it was the due to the poor performance by the trident behind him. They created nothing and that forced Rebic to try to get the ball by dropping to closer to the halfway line and that’s not his strength.
Pioli should have taken Leao off at the halftime and put Rebic on the LW and Giroud as the striker. That might have brought us the 3 points.
I agree with you…
i think kossy is right too here bcz u ppl dont realize how much importan the role of trident is if they dont play good and try to connect with striker it is very hard i remember u all used to blame ibra but he also had a bad trident behind him
been telling everytime that we need a new RW.
Brother don’t be a smart @ss we all know we need a RW but do you really think we have that budget? Jesus Christ you must be better than Maldini and Massara to figure we need a RW, Sherlock you’ve solved the mystery
nah there are stupid @ss people who say but but Messias is good. Alexis Is good. Messias had no time. Alexis is young. We have missed a good RW since forever. Piss off mate. I bet even you are one of those people. None of them are starter level when it comes to a club who has to defend the title and go to the knockouts in CL.
Please correct me if you saw Bennacer put a foot wrong tonight. It’s a shame some of the others didn’t show as much personality. Leao needs to get it in to his head that he can beat any man in front of him so needs to just keep doing that and getting cutbacks, shots off, drawings fouls, winning pens. Bennacer was class tonight
Isma was magical. But he usually is. If I was Milan management I would pay him whatever he is asking ASAP.
I don’t really understand the midfield settings, cus it’s putting a lot of pressure on the CBs a lot of time they were out of position, on a bad day we’ll be punished. Pioli should make Leao play from flank, the idea of coming into the middle of the pack isn’t really working.
For the 3rd season counting the RW is mostly anonymous. I don’t know how but we should get Zieych. Messias looks slow, confused and lacking ideas mostly. We need that upgrade.
Leao was marked by two as he could beat his defender one on one, but he would dribble into traffic bring both into the box……assists until you are one on one, same thing last year until Pioli sat him like he did today…..Leao is becoming a legend in his own mind. This is Bennecer’s year,good for him. Theo was absent today thanks to Rafe bringing his two marks to him as well.
Time to start CDK. And why not Origi, Leao is to comfortable a starter. He needs some pressure to perform
Origi ain’t better, he is better as a striker than LW, Leao remains a threat anyway, let’s be patient
Too bad, last year we cant afford Kvara, he’s a new star in Naples, and can make a strong competition in LW that makes Leao work harder. Since there’s no competition in LW, Leao will be lazy to work harder
The Tonali apologists have to stop. The guy had a rubbish game. Gave the ball away, missed a good chance, was most at fault for Atalanta’s goal because he didn’t close down, got a pointless yellow card, etc.. The only thing he did ok was a few corners, that’s it. No way he deserves a 6. He gets a 5 at most.
Exactly. As long as Tonali doesn’t score an own goal, he gets at least a 6. I’ve never seen a more overhyped player. Milan is sure going to miss Kessie this season.
True. Tonali had a bad game and should’ve been replaced by Adli. And Tonali REALLY should have scored from the awesome CDK pass!
tonali was told to attack which messed him up 2 dms were attacking tonali should have been told to defend which hes better at
Stop making excuses for Tonali like everyone else does.
No i accept he had bad game and yes i have felt he is overhyped but just was saying that this thing might be a factor sorry
a little too generous to Kalulu. Are they not considering the 2 point blank free headers that he missed. Kjaer would have buried those in the net. I like Tomori and Kalulu but they are both terrible in the air.
Absolutely!
I thought I’m the only one who’s noticed this. Both CB’s are clueless attack wise. There’s still room for improvement but Romagnoli or Kjær would’ve buried those clear headers.
Just like Maldini said we need a mix of experience in this team, if they can’t get us Ziyech then I’d take Politano as RW in a heartbeat.
Even gabbia could do.better header
Politano? Are you a joke? Board is struggling to find 10 million € and you are talking about Politano who is well over 25+ million €
Only Benaccer reserves an 7.5 to 8. All others were below 6 with Leao and Rebic, Dias and Messias 5.
18 shots, 7 in target and just one goal to show for?
And they scored with their first shot on target, Nonsense wasteful game.
7 shots on target but the stats don’t show how poor the shots were. None of them were a real threat. Musso had an easy night.
The attack was abysmal.
The coach cost us two points already. He insisted in playing messias and rebic together. It never works. Messias contributed nothing I’m these two games, yet pioli said he had a good game. Awful
Theo’s cross to Messias in the first half!🙆
CDK’s pass to TONALI!🙆
Origi’s chance😲
Too wasteful!! Leao needs to be benched for a game atleast to cool his head… He was so annoying to watch!! All subs changed the game
Grabs popcorn to read the comments section 😂😂😂
Relax your spincthers guys,🤣🤣🤣
Leao seems figured out so far this year. If he wants the big bucks he better change something. Very mediocre today.
This game just shows how desperately we need a right winger. Messias was so poor and saelemaekers isn’t anything better
It is still mystery why pioli starter junior after flop vs udinese . Why management buy this junior ? If the reason they buy junior because his salary are cheap 1m euro nett then oir RW will be messed for one season unless CDK starter in RW
Start both CDK and Adli!
Its always be with the ussual suspect.diaZ and messias. Our answer for Mcfred.
+Saelemaekers
Why did Pioli put him on while Milan still looking for goal instead of defending the lead?
Pioli always blunders… because of 1 brilliant match, this stupid coach believes more in playing Diaz and Messiah… Look at last season are they both consistent?? Milan already has 2 creative players, cdk and adli…
And install giroud. as a starter, he’s a player with good goal instinct… last season he scored goals for important games…
If you’re still with this stupid line-up, don’t expect much this season, especially since Inter, Juve and Roma have the same strength and consistency…
Same as last season. When we’re bad it’s always the attack and wr literally only got cdk this year. If we think Origi is a starting signing this is wrong. Should have got Belotti as well as a second striking option as we need more attacking options and we should have spent on a RW if we’re staying with this formation…. RW was huge and we got….. ….. messias again. Ok.
We got Adli, we could get him on instead of Saelemaekers and then move CDK to RW.
just one bad day, moving on
Hard to move on as Atalanta was putting 3 points on a plate for us to take but the attacking unit wasn’t interested in winning. Two points lost. For sure. These matches (lost points) might be critical.
Another “masterful” performance by the 7 mil man.
What a joke
Also, pretty sure Kaladse has been recommending Kvaratshkelia for a while for us but you know that 11m is just waaaay too much. And look now. Teams are reinforcing. The champions are not. Yes it’s 1 game but this doesn’t look good from how we were playing. Same flaws.
Still no Adli?? What a bad choice for starting Xi
kjaer has some crucial experience, the reason we are lacking bcz of all young players playing, leao needs some rest maybe comebacks nicely, rw is an issue try cdk bring adli for brahim rebic gives leao rest and giroud st kjaer replace kalulu or tomori whoever is playing worse and midfield should be like the one in kessie days make tonali defend like we did before in one match i forgot and bennacer attack its 1 game lets bounce back there are manny crucial games ahead
The entire attack was poor. We could of scored 3-4 today.
Where is Yacine A. ? i hope his luck not like Hauge
Yeah because Hauge has really become better than what we have at LW
Opponents pay special attention to Messias. This means even when he doesn’t produce much he still soaks up a lot of attention. When saleamakers plays then the opponents put more pressure on other players. Messias is a lot like Boateng and is a constant threat to opponents.
Leao isn’t that good. He has some great moments but if any team spends big $ to buy him they will be disappointed. He seems like he has peaked early as well.
I’m not at all convinced by DK. He just seems a bit too ‘cool’, calm and casual. There’s something there in his effort and demeanor that is not what fits in with this team. This team is better off with hyper effort players like Brahim, Bennacer, Calabria, Rebic, Tonali, etc. Players like DK can bring that enthusiasm and effort down.
Anyways it was not a bad game. Good enough for now.
Bennacer was brilliant. He was East MOTM well before he scored the great goal. He kept winning tackles. He attacked Malinovsky when he had the ball. He’s afraid of no one. His dribbling and strength in traffic is opposite of weak Diaz last year.
He had two PERFECT crosses to Kalulu and Kalulu should’ve scored on both. Bennacer should’ve had 2 assists with his great goal.
Not impressed with Leao in this game. Rebic playing as a main striker needed some good service from the flanks and centre. Unfortunately there was no service. For all Leao’s fan base…this was the second game that he made absolutely no impact… for the amount of money that he is asking for … a lot more is required … see Benacer’s game for example ….
MESSIAS IS GARBAGE.
Start Rebic on the RW so either Giroud or Origi can be up top.
MESSUAS IS SO BAD. passing is terrible. He’s slower than Rebic. He can’t jump as high as Rebic for headers. Nobody on the team presses better than Rebic. Messias pressing is terrible. His shooting is not as good as Rebic. NOTHING he does is as good as Rebic and Rebic played RE for Croatia national team. There is NO REASON why Messias or Saele should EVER start.
Play CDK on the right too if Adli or Diaz are CAM.
NEVER EVER PLAY MESSIAS PIOLI PLEASE!!!!!!
He is a complete waste.
Stop with Rebic dude. He was the worst player on the field this game. His first touch is horrible. gave the ball away so much, not sure if he completed a pass but I know he didn’t have a single shot all game.
And for everyone killin Messias, he is the best option they have at rw right now. He scored three times as many goals as Salemaekers did in about 1/3 of the minutes. Oh yeah, and Tonali is not nearly good enough. Not even close to what Kessie was.
The next attacking dept we should try this..not at home:
Giroud / Lazetic
Leao/rebic Adli cdk
The team pressed way better when Rebic was playing as compared to Giroud. Unfortunately, Rebic could not pose much threat. Leao needs to work on his final ball. Too many early long balls when Giroud came on. It bypassed CDK and he was left chasing shadows.
Why all the fuss about Leao? Atalanta was defending deep and that way plus double-teaming Leao, they force him to drop deeper as he couldn’t get behind the defender as he usually does.
Rebic is weak on his first touch so when he plays against deep defensive line, he become useless.
This is Gasperini’s win against Pioli’s tactic given the odd
Nobody gets the blame on Malinovskys goal? That has to be Bennacer or Tonali. To let the best right foot in the league shoot from 16 yards out is crazy.
Absolutely
True.
Left foot, but you are right. I think he was Tonali’s player to close down and he didn’t have a good game in general.
Can’t really fault him though, he barely made this match.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is one of best damn dope player in the league for now that been offered by our own former player kaladze for cheap cost and he can shoot and pass with BOTH so can be placed on the CAM or RW position. But they ruled out the offer and sticking to the junior and saladmaker a*s. Now look at napoli. Hope we can maintain the reigning scudetti.
As usual, we criticize the individual player but we do not look at the whole picture. We must admit that our attack is not very efficient.
Leao started like a run away machine then suddenly after 25 mins or so the ghost of past started possessing him. He became one man show playing individually…..rebic was drifting way too far should have sticked centrally that was his flaw…..for new signings origi and cdk well they will integrate as they get minutes…but tbh its a lost 2 points for us definitely we would have finished it off with win…..how on earth we are missing kessie type player wonder elliot or Red bird would have invested a bit to cover this area….I believe this part of field will cost us points as season rolls in……it was our midfield that won us title last year helping defense getting those clean sheets along with magic Mike performances…..but rw and midfield is one big dilemma for us…..
Kessie-type of player would have done nothing about the parked bus by Atalanta. Kessie has zero contribution to attack and that was the biggest issue yesterday. The quality of attacks was just awful.
Kessie contributed zero in attack but he was good in breaking up play and holding up play which it self helps defense….how did Ruslan scored was no one followed up on him with a kessie type player he wouldn’t have got that free run…..
Kessie left that same spot where the Atalanta goal came from open many, many times during his stay in Milan. I doubt he would have been there to prevent the shot this time either.
But sure, a-Kessie-type of more defensive oriented player might have been there though. Anyway, the issue still is that our attacking plays are dull and unimaginative and defensive-minded players wouldn’t help there. The defense in general is fine and no need for more defense-oriented players.
If we analyse our performance yes the attackers let us down no doubt but cdk inclusion would be massive upgrade as season roll over….he is much better upgrade than Diaz rw is worrisome leao as usual suddenly drifts away…..to sum up yes we played well atalanta had a change of system they had more defensive approach to their usual swash buckling style of play….but over all we need to upgrade ourselves a bit to reach and produce last year performances……new signings need to jell fast…..
I’ll say what I’ve been saying for a year. Diaz has no business starting games for Milan.
Juve and Napoli are using their new signings effectively.but what did Pioli do, put CDK and Adil on the bench to watch Diaz, maybe if Adil and CDK begin to perform as badly as Diaz, they will get some minutes, the thing I don’t like about Poili, he never plays Milan strongest team, he opt for weak team, Diaz, Salad man and whatnot. This has to stop, if Milan wants to retain the trophy.
Juventus and Napoli didn’t win the scudetto and lost key players so of course they need to experiment, they’re playing catch-up. Pioli has already said in the next few weeks, everyone will get a start. He rewards players who are in form. CDK and Adli will get their chance, just as Tonali had to wait for his. As for Saelemaekers, he was better than Leao, Messias, Rebic and Diaz yesterday. The issue yesterday wasn’t CDK or Adli not playing, it was the performances of the four players I mentioned. Leao has been poor in both games. He needs to step up.
Rebic was a black hole. Every time he touched the ball the next player to touch it was from Atalanta. The old Brahim is back. Messias is a net zero, Tonali looked rusty but saw some positives, then he died off after missing that sitter. The real killer was the moment the defense fell asleep. Looked to be a situational awareness. All in all Atalanta were lucky to get a point their goal was the result of a mental error and they should have been playing with ten men for half the game. I swear the refs only use VAR to take away Milan goals.