AC Milan secured a comfortable win away at Slavia Praha this evening and thus advanced to the quarter-finals of the Europa League. Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic were the two key players and below are the player 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 (6.5): He was subbed off after just 20 minutes due to a minor discomfort but before that, he actually managed to make a very good stop with his leg.
Calabria (6): The captain was rather average tonight but he did make it easier for Milan, attracting the foul which led to the red card. Ironically, it stemmed from a very poor first touch from the right-back, but he gets a pass here still.
Gabbia (6): Although he was booked for a semi-reckless challenge, he did well overall and continued to defend with confidence, as we have seen ever since his return.
Tomori (6): Just like his colleague at the back, it was a rather comfortable evening as Slavia found themselves in a very difficult situation. The Englishman was also booked after a poorly timed tackle, but decent overall.
Hernandez (7): The Frenchman led Milan from the back tonight, not just defending well but also combining with Rafael Leao (often brilliantly) when going forward. And the latter worked to great success, resulting in the assist for Loftus-Cheek’s rap-in.
Adli (5.5): Tonight was an opportunity for the former Bordeaux man to show that he can lead a midfield, in the absence of the usual starters. However, he failed to do so with several misplaced passes, especially if we only look at longer passes (which he usually excels at).
Musah (6): The youngster covered a lot of ground, as you would expect, and was an important part of the defensive puzzle. While there is clearly a lot of potential here, he can do even better in possession and at least tonight, that held him back from a higher rating.
Pulisic (7.5): A nice left-footed strike to open the scoring and then an ‘assist’ for Leao’s screamer. It was another good evening for the American, in other words, and he also impressed aside from these actions. He missed one good chance, but he gets the benefit of the doubt here after fighting to even get the chance.
Loftus-Cheek (6.5): Given that he scored a goal, it might look like a harsh rating but there are a few reasons for that. The goal was a tap-in, after all, and the feeling is that he could have created even more in possession. He has great strength to keep the ball and shake off defenders, but sometimes there is no real end product to these movements.
Leao (7.5 – MOTM): The No.10 missed one big chance in the first half but picked himself up, starting with the assist for Pulisic’s goal. He then combined really well with Theo to create the second goal, before adding a third with an absolute screamer of an effort. He continued to make life difficult for Slavia but for a higher rating, he would have needed better end product on a few occasions.
Giroud (5.5): Aside from a few nice flick-ons, most of them were unsuccessful and the experienced striker also missed two pretty good chances tonight. He can do much better and he knows it.
Substitutes
Sportiello (6): Wasn’t really called into action that much, coming out to gather the ball a few times, and he couldn’t do much about the goal. He gets a pass for sure.
Thiaw (5.5): He did well up until the mistake on Slavia’s goal. You could argue that it was a fast attack, which also could have been stopped earlier, but the German clearly got spun by his man.
Kalulu (5.5): Coming on as a right-back, he didn’t really have an impact on the game and struggled in possession too.
Chukwueze (N/A): Milan had already switched off when he came on and as a result, he barely had anything to work with. Impossible to give a rating.
Reijnders (N/A): We didn’t see enough to give him a rating.
The manager
Pioli (6): What can we say? Milan got lucky (once again) with the red card and did what was needed to secure the win. He got the selection right, even if the midfield wasn’t always brilliant, and there shouldn’t be too much criticism on the cards for him tonight.
It seems that Slavia Prague is incapable of playing with 11 men during an entire game. Perhaps they’re used to have it easier.
Anyways, no complains for me for this game. I guess the negative thing is Maignan’s injury, hope it’s not one of those that leads to many games absence.
We were on the back foot for a good chunk of the first half, then the red card happened, then slowly we regain dominance and were able to pretty much seal the deal by halftime. Don’t have a lot to say about the second half, I missed a good chunk of if, but we were cruising anyways. It’s a bit disappointing to have allowed another goal, but at that point it doesn’t really matter.
While considering we were playing against 10 men, Pulisic was superb and this time had a pretty goal and an assist to confirm that. Leao was formidable (come on what more do you want). Giroud wasn’t as good but handed some lovely passes.
There wasn’t a whole lot of challenge to our midfield so I don’t have many comments. Both Musah and Adli did play well overall and Loftus-Cheek really confirms that he has an eye for the goal.
The defense was solid enough not to allow a goal during the first 30 minutes or so. Calabria is behind a red card so credit to him and Theo with a lovely assist. We can’t stop conceiding goals, but at that moment of the game it doesn’t really matter.
No complains also about Pioli (although the red card made the game easier), I think the subs were spot on considering the yellow cards. Perhaps he should also have subbed either Leao or Giroud.
Jesus, will you cut RLC a break occasionally? He played well today, definitely worth above an average rating. He’s a seriously valuable member of the Milan team.
Right lmao and Musah a 6 for putting Leao on goal and only losing possession 4 times in 90min with 95% pass accuracy and 8/11 duels won
Seriously, RLC can’t win with this guy now matter how well he plays. If Tonali played that same match he would get at least a 7 and probably man of the match.
These ratings are subjective. Not absolute.
RLC, Puli, Leao looked great. Musah did well. Wasn’t fond of Adli.
We’ll all have different ratings.
Chukwueze made good rans that could have created goal chance only if someone passed him the ball. But it seems like our midfield doesn’t even take notice of him and we actually had 2 players in our midfield who are good at long balls. I counted at least 4 instances where he could have done something only if he received the ball.
You made a valid point there. And it’s not just yesterday’s game. There is a consistency in the team. Not passing the ball to Chukwueze.
Unfortunately that’s what happens when you consistently get the ball and don’t do anything with it. Players lose trust in you and look for better options. He needs to regain trust slowly, great player with great potential, almost mirror of Leao, but needs to gain his confidence somehow.
Pulisic was also making those runs 100x during the match. Even more. He got the ball maybe twice when making those runs. Especially in the 2nd half the attackers made lots of great runs – in vain as the midfielders & defenders lacked the balls to pass forwards. Only krunic-like backpassing and sideway-passing with zero intention of feeding those great runs. Disgusting. If you don’t have the balls to pass forwards against a team losing by a big margin and playing 1 man down, when do you have?
slava came out of the gate way too hyped up, you could feel a red card coming. Honestly a boring game (in a good way). Some good play but hard to judge because Slava ran themselves out of the game in the first ten minutes
Glad for the win and clinching a spot in the quarter finals.
Nice goals by Pulisic, RLC and especially Leao.
Adli was awful with his positioning and especially passing. He didn’t really make any passes going forward.
These 2 games don’t inspire much confidence that Milan can go far in this competition.
Out of around 200 minutes played between the 2 games, Slavia only played with 11 players for only 45 of the 200. They were given 2 very harsh red cards, especially in today’s game. If you need to look at the monitor for 3 minutes it isn’t a red. Red should be given to an obvious dangerous tackle.
Milan didn’t score a single goal in 11v11 nor they played well, you could say Slavia played better when they had 11 players on the pitch. Milan also gave up 3 goals with a man advantage.
Let’s hope for another lucky draw. Maybe Marseille is the easiest opponent left in the competition.
No, you’re being too negative, sorry. Look, I’ve seen plenty of good teams with a man advantage, failing to convert, or converting sparingly. We scored 7 (SEVEN!!!) games with that man advantage. There is merit in that. Sure, the man advantage makes things easy but those were nice goals and there was skill in scoring them; regardless of the man advantage, you still need to put those balls in the back of the neck, fooling the remaining defenders and the goalkeeper. I’d be upset if we had scored only one or two goals with the man advantage but we scored seven!
And the 3 goals we let in while with the man advantage? The first two in first leg were once-in-a-lifetime spectacular shots that nobody could defend against; it happens. The third one, tonight, was in garbage time, with Milan rightfully having disconnected from the game and just cruising, to avoid further injury or cards, and resting for the continuation of our busy schedule. I’m not upset at all regarding the goals conceded.
And sure, they were more dominant before the red, but that was expected. They were 2 goals down in aggregate, playing at home, and of course they came at us early, firing all cylinders. Still, we cleared their attempts, and they were only able to produce one good shot that Mike saved.
Yes, we didn’t play well in the first leg (but still scored 4 times), but today we did play well with good movement, good triangulations, and very beautiful goals.
Being one man up is no guarantee of scoring 7 goals. Take Rafa’s for example. That was pure skill. That shot from outside the box was not related to being one man up.
Yes, from this point on, it gets tougher. I don’t think we will win the league, due to Liverpool looming. But let’s enjoy the fact that we did well tonight.
You must not be this afraid of Injuries and cards whatsoever, they are part of the game and could occur while slowing down and letting the opponent at you. Are you watching the Liverpool Sparta match ? Liverpool have won the first leg with a lot of goals and currently playing with their first team leading 9-1 on agg and still pressing for more. And guess what ? They are chasing for the premier league! That’s just champion mentality. if we want to get there we must do as the best teams/coaches. Bayern, PSG, Man city, Real Madrid and even likes of Atalanta and Bologna will still be looking to score or press a bit more in that situation. Ronaldo and Messi have scored a lot of goals in matches after their teams already leading by like 4 goals and result sealed. Leao and co could have gotten more goals tonight or coach bringing on the reserves who would need the minutes. I knew we were already through after the first half and happy with that but neglecting every small loser attitude from the coach is not going to improve the team’s mentality to the best.
1. We don’t have Ronaldo or Messi. You shouldn’t rise the bar that high. Those are not only world class players, but legendary players, Greatest-Of-All-Times material. We did have some of these in the past, like Paolo Maldini, Kaka, Ronaldinho, but we’re not there today. Still, we have Rafa, Theo, and Puli, and they are all world class players. And they did well; they scored and assisted; there was no need for them to do more. I mean, that’s the height of the bar you’re picking? Ronaldo? Freaking MESSI??? If that’s how you gauge the current Milan, then it is kind of useless to exchange views with you. Congratulations on your optimism, though.
2. Great for LIverpool that they kept pressing after a large lead. If you haven’t noticed, we just came out of the most devastating injury crisis in all of Europe. We collected more muscle injuries than any team in Europe – as a matter of fact, in the world – during the same time period. Allow this to sink in, please: we were the MOST injured team in the entire world, out of the thousands and thousands of clubs that play professional soccer. So, I’m actually VERY glad that Pioli directed the team to slow down after we secured a 7-2 lead. We did collect one injury this game (Maignan’s; thankfully it wasn’t very serious). I’m happy that we did not have any additional injury. And yes, injuries are more likely if we are pressing high, than if we are just kicking the ball around, passing it back and forth, not running much, not getting too eager with tackles and challenges, with such a large, 5-goal lead which made all of the above utterly unnecessary. We do need to manage a busy schedule.
3. Nice that you compare us to Liverpool, but they are arguable top 3 in the world. We are not. We can little by little become again one of the leading teams in the world but currently we are not that, so, let’s manage responsibility the assets that we do have.
You’re saying when results are sealed you must not press for more goals. I brought Ronaldo and Messi up saying how eager they still look to score and scored even when their team’s have already sealed results. You should always look to better your lead whenever there’s such big chance to do so. That’s the right mentality. And despite all our injury records, there should still be limits to avoiding injuries and suspensions. I’m a bit more unsatisfied with it because slowing tempo of the game is something Pioli is fond of. We’ve seen it in the first leg too and almost made it even more embarrassing to a 10 men Slavia at the San Siro. I think we did well in the first half of this match. And you can say all about how the man advantage didn’t play much part (Rafa goal wasn’t related to a man up? You think there would always be all that space for us to build up and Rafa to shot?!) , ok but fact is when we were tested at 11v11 we didn’t respond well in any of the occasions. All aside, let’s hope to keep progressing. Thanks
The Ronaldo/Messi comment is a dead give away that we’re dealing with a computer game generation.
It seems almost impossible to manage expectations these days. It’s a bit like sex and porn!
Exactly! So don’t try to manage expectations of fans of a big club! More seriously tho, I mean the Ronaldo Messi thing in a sense that the two been the most valuable players of the generation, so when their teams are crushing opponents, it could be easier for their coaches to slow them down to reserve energy or avoid injuries, but instead those are the moments these players capitalize on scoring more goals. It’s how every champion club/coach do it. If so then why wouldn’t we let Leao and co to score more? I may sound a bit too unreasonable but had we scored 5 Slavia would also give up already and slow down the game themselves anyway. But Pioli chooses to do it the other way giving 10 man team breathing space to build confidence attacked us and ruined a clean sheet. Destroying opponents is how you quickly develop mental strength. Stats doesn’t show such but with Pioli we are further away from the strongest clubs in mentality and approach then player power
So their garbage time, irrelevant goal, ruined our clean sheet? So what? Would a clean sheet give us any advantage for the next round? Nope. It doesn’t matter that they scored a garbage time goal. The round was won, and remained won.
I’m appalled that you still complain, after we progressed easily. Look at Leverkusen; they had a lot of trouble with a lesser team, almost got eliminated, only saved themselves with not one, but two injured time goals, when their opponents had 10 men. They advanced with the minimum advantage of one goal. Still, their fans celebrated. You are complaining that we advanced with a 4-goal cushion. Come on! Be more positive!
@calm down: you’re making fuss about something that is not a big deal. I understand that 6-0 looks more impressive but in the end the risk/reward is not worth it.
Could we have pressed for 5-0 or 6-0 ? Perhaps, but that will bring what ? We secured the qualification by halftime, is that score worth risking a card or an injury ?
I agree winning mentality is important but you acquire that by…winning, the score is irrelevant. Do you think Europe is gonna respect us more if we crush a weak team down to 10 men by 5 or 6 goals ?
Messi, Ronaldo and Lewandowski are irrelevant. They are players trying to break records and competing against each other for legacy purposes, they are also almost injury prone. Also this large scores are a matter of styles for teams. The truth is, italians don’t go very often for big wins, especially when the qualification is already secured.
And in the end does this even matter ? In 20/21 we won 7-0 against Torino and won nothing while we won the scudetto next season never winning a game more than 3-0 or 4-1. Bayern is winning games by 7 or 8 goals yet are trailing behind Leverkusen who doesn’t do the same.
I feel that your comment is a little bit too harsh.
I agree that conceiding 2 goals against 10 men in the first leg was not reassuring at all but for tonight’s goal, giving the timing and the aggregate it hardly matters. You can’t expect a team to be fully focused when they’re up 7-2 against 10 men with about 10 minutes to go.
We can debate on wether or not the red card was deserved, but the truth is it’s that our fault. Calabria was indeed fouled and we didn’t influence the referee to give a red card.
As far as the competition, I as well don’t think we can go too far especially if we face teams like Liverpool.
Milan wins and ruins the party for SempreMilan to complain lmao
You complaining that I’m not complaining is complaining. Start the party
😀
Sell Thiaw and Kalulu, and with their money buy either Scalvini, Goncalo Inacio or someone else.
Lmao. Keep your own bad advice.
If Inter isn’t at the top of the table right now, i doubt you have the balls to visit this site and post a comment regulary in here.
Why would I be afraid to visit this site? Would you bite me?
I’d bite you. YUM.
Not sure Scalvini is faster than Gabbia so unclear what we gain for the loss of Kalulu. I’m less a fan of Thiaw but think he develops more over time.
Personally I’m quite happy with our CB set up. We need a bit of depth at FB if I’m gonna talk investment, but again I need to see what we got with Terraciano.
My friend your prediction almost came to pass. Very good job at manifesting the score and the stat line too
Dumb luck. I’ll take it.
“Not sure Scalvini is faster than Gabbia so unclear what we gain for the loss of Kalulu”
Not again with the “pace is everything”-thing??? There is more to football than just who is faster/fastest.
Scalvini would be an upgrade over Gabbia and 100x over Kalulu.
One (another) thing I don’t get… So, this guy says he’s an Inter-fan. Yeah, we can question his IQ etc., but he has made lots of points that make sense. Far more than some people here with their broken-record ranting on several different topics (pick your poison).
Scalvini is roughly the same height and style as Gabbia and Thiaw.
He appears smarter than Thiaw but a bit less so than Gabbia. I’d chalk that to experience tho as Scalvivni is young.
So pace in this case is a differentiator.kalulu has pace an is quite smart. He is short though.
Scalvini thrives in a 3 man line. Will be in a 4? What will his adaptation time look like?
We play a high line. Lace is a key trait as is intelligence.
So why spend limited dollars on what is at best a minor upgrade when we have need of depth at FB and we can get it for less than Scalvini while negatively impacting depth at CB?
For primary players we need an ST and DM .
For quality depth we need FB, RW and likely ST.
To play CL and Serie A and thrive we need depth.
I never see you in here before this season so yeah you definitely afraid to visit this site.
How is that relevant to anything he is saying? Stop barking up the wrong tree.
Why you even defend that merda with his garbage opinion? What the hell is wrong with you?
Because I suspect, like me, ACM1899 holds the hope that we as Milan fans and this representatives of Milan have a certain amount of class and respect.
Lighten up man. It’s men playing games for money, not curing polio or feeding the hungry.
I hate Inter from all my heart. But I gotta admit that this Inter-guy seems far more reasonable and smarter than 5% of so-called Milan-fans here.
Early in the season Leao tried to force things individually too much, and was counseled to learn a bit from Pulisic. But lately he has become the consummate team player. This ends up opening up things for him to score more in the long run. He is the star and is excelling, and the offensive balance on the team is impressive right now.
Pulisic’s positioning was incredible today. His intelligence isn’t talked about enough.
We lost even though we won. What a horrible game… blah blah blah – Turtle
Thanks for the win, it’s pretty much over after a red card and a goal.
Better than 7 days ago. We probably took them a little more seriously. Pulisic proves again that he is the best reinforcement of last summer. The duo from Chelsea justifies the investment. Adli reminds me of some kind of misunderstood artist! It’s as if none of his teammates understand what he intends to do with his next move. Theo a class by itself. We must not allow ourselves to lose it. I’m not saying anything new if I say that we need a new striker who will be compatible with Leao and Pulisic. Tomorrow is the draw, maybe we won’t be lucky this time..
Ha ha ha.
Adli is a misunderstood artist!?
I think Adli misunderstands that he is supposed to pass the ball to the players that wear the same jerseys as he does, not the different color jersey. He was misplacing the simplest of passes.
Adli is in a class of his own for sure.
Hey man, solid win. Took advantage of the opportunities in the game and progressed to the next round.
Anyone still criticizing our purchases of Chelsea “rejects”? Consistent displays or not, they are contributing goals.
So the next time the likes of MEEZ start f**king on about our midfield being weaker than last year, show them stats: 17 goals between RLC & Puli.
But if they are dense enough to still argue that, then likely not even stats can penetrate those domes.
Meez: “Our mercato was rubbish thanks to MONEYBALL MONCADA!”
Everyone else: “Um, no it wasn’t.”
Meez: “Our mercato was rubbish thanks to MONEYBALL MONCADA!”
RLC and Pulisic are attackers….
Our midfield now has Adli in it!
And that’s AFTER signing 3 midfielders.
Yes, it’s called depth. We now have many players that can step in and do the job. Reijnders, Bennacer, Musah and Adli.
DEPTH….good one….stick to the narrative.
He was critical of the Chelsea outcasts as well. RLC ticks both boxes, midfield and attack.
No I wasn’t.
I was critical of the overall strategy but I would’ve been delighted had we just signed RLC, Pulisic plus a 40 goal a season striker.
Reijnders and Chukwueze were poor signings. Musah has everything to become a top player imo though.
Adli is Pioli’s project (it’s normal for managers to have one). IF Pioli is ejected in the summer I suspect Adli will need to find a new club – he’s not good enough and no amount of patience will change that.
40 goal a season striker? So, Mbappe or Haaland, eh? Even Lautaro can’t do that. Where would Milan get the money for a 40 goal striker? By selling 4 Tonalis?
I think Musah will develop and Reijnders is serviceable. What would you have done regarding the midfield differently?
Agree on Musah and he showed well today.
Do you think Reinjders still as room to grow above serviceable? He looked so crisp at the beginning of the season.
He is already 25 years old so in growth I think he is near his peak. He may have a better second season but I think his issue is he plays too safe. He always keeps possession which is good but he does so by passing to the nearest man or backward. I like his engine and he is smart so I want him to take a few more risks by making those line breaking passes I know he sees and I want him to work on his confidence when shooting. It also could be the offensive sturcture with how and why Reijnders plays the way he does because if he plays safe it allows Theo to get forward and wow Theo’s assists/goals is special so I see why Reijnders is relegated to covering for Leao and Theo. Someone else mentioned we used to play 433 at the start of the season and like you said Reijnders was better and now 4231 it doesn’t utilize his skill set as well. Short answer, yes he can be more than serviceable but needs a system that suit his skills or he’ll have to work hard at the double pivot and pick his spots to make runs.
Thanks KH that gives me some things to watch for this weekend.
I hadn’t considered the chang in formation!
Well “weaker” is debateable as is “stronger”. Defensively, certainly we leak more goals or are more susceptible to doing so. But they are scoring and potent. That aspect is a bit stronger. Not to be nit picky but Puli is not a mid but a winger and RLC has basically a SS but if u want to consider him a CAM that’s fine. It’s the pivot combo that provides protection to the back that’s the issue (Adli/Musah/Deers/Benny). A current unfit Benny is the best we have at the job which is quite telling. Also, what’s lost in all of this is the change in tactics back to a 4231. It wasn’t comparable early on in the season when we were playing a 433. But now it can be. Right now we have mezzalas playing pivots and that’s a bit unfair to the guys who were brought in. Glad to have those guys Puli and RLC who we’ve been chasing for a few years now 🙂
I think next year all we need is a proper DM and sort out the injuries. Keep the team intact and dont change too much and we should win something if not the Scudetto
Yes sir, you say good things, I agree. Maybe look at a striker to this summer, Giroud can not last forever and we need to invest in a young up and coming player not spend 70 million on a player hoping he pans out. Spending too much for a single player is how you ruin finances.
Another red card! Not sure what to make of Slavia but we looked much better in todays match up compared to last week.
Maignan getting injured makes it hard to judge his performace but he did have a few good stops.
The back line was solid. Theo was getting after it tonight. I think with Musah as his cover he felt freer to attack. Him and Leao when both are clicking is one of the best duos in the world. I enjoyed watching them this match. Tomori was great for his 45 minutes. It was smart not to over play him in this crazy environment. Calabria drew the red and did a job. Subbing him seemed like a good idea to avoid injury and he is just coming bakc from injury also. Gabbia held strong. I feel his yellow was a bit harsh.
The middle field was hard to judge since we were a man up most of the match again. They kept the pressure up and I didn’t feel they were a weak link tonight. Musah is a strong lad and nearly impossible to dispossess and he has no problem imposing his will on an opponent similar to RLC. Adli had an okay game. To be honest I didn’t see him leave a real mark but he did not mess anything up either. A few of those long passes missed their targets.
The front line was active and threatening. Pulisic played hard and really gave that weaker left a real work over. I think his last 3 goals have come from his weaker foot even though they look the part. Leao was amazing tonight. That goal was class at its highest. He is starting to trust his teammates to put his passes in the back of the net. After Pulisic’s goal Leao was almost as pumped as Pulisic. We need to keep this guy in Milan. Giroud had a few chances but just couldn’t find the goal. Other than that a quiet game.
The subs really didn’t have a part to play other than see the game out. Chukwueze was hard to find on the pitch and did not offer much or take an intiviative either. Reijnders look pretty good and I saw him a few times combine well and almost get on goal. I am starting to think Pioli feels Thiaw can make line breaking passes that Gabbia in his mind cannot becuase thats the one thing I see Thiaw attempt to do that stands out compared to others.
Pioli had the team ready Prague was very loud and unfriendly and the team was unphased and really stuck it to a 10 man Salvia. Still unsure what would have happened without the red but thats Salvia’s problem.
I have to admit I was worried before going into this one, but I think Slavia’s coach saying he was sure they were going to win was a bad move on their part. Reminded me of Cruyff before the 94 CL final against Uefalona.
Overall it’s been a good couple of days of football – Lazio out, Napoli out… And I don’t know whether I’m happier about our win today or Inter’s loss yesterday. Lautaro skying the penalty into Row F was priceless.
All this talk about them being a top 3 team in Europe, in the end they couldn’t even make it to the top 8.
Yep – the hype is overwhelming. They’re lucky we had half the team injured most the season. Imagine Inter without Barella, Darmian, Bastoni, Hakan all at once. They’d wind up relying on Thuram to put off the opposition by squeezing their balls like last night.
Hahahaha yeah that was a comedy moment with Thuram.
Shinter are where they belong – out of europe and hopefully next season we can rattle them properly
I watched the match with one eye and that thuram foul was indeed funny considering the aftermath where the players actually was laughing and then he got a slight slap to his side. Thuram was lucky that he didnt get a direct red card but so was savic shortly after. I cant remember a scene like that which hasn’t gone down far worse.
That doesn’t help Italy’s coefficient rankings though… 5th spot may not hold up.
remember when Leverkusen struggles and barely beats Qarabag in injury time its a heroic performance, when Milan does it Milan is crap and needs to be relegated.
Milan have won 7 UCLs and many other trophies. Leverkusen does not have that kind of history. Hence people expect more from Milan.
History does not magically give Milan the finances to compete with English clubs and Bayern/Madrid/Barca
Also ignoring the fact that Milan is trying to build a new team after the disaster of last season is cringeworthy
He starts off comparing Milan and Bayer Leverkusen.
He gets exposed for not understanding the difference in levels between the 2 teams and with that the difference in expectations.
He comes back moving the goal post and now compares Milan with Bayern, Real Madrid, Barca and the EPL clubs and bring up finances.
BTW Bayer is undefeated in all competitions this season with a rookie coach, so struggling vs one team is no big deal.
While Milan led by your guy Pioli struggles vs most of the teams, no matter the league or competition.
Huge difference, but keep up the nonsense.
💯💯💯💯💯💯💯
gets exposed lol, Milan haters will do anything to hate on this club wont they?
Why dont you go actually support a club instead of complaining 24/7? what you doing with your life?????
Give us Neverkusen, we’ll smoke them 🤭
Good win. Onto the next one
The celebrated Bayer Leverkusen, Bundesliga’s leaders by 10 points, were really really close to elimination by arguably the weakest team of the round of 16, freaking Qarabag from Azerbaijan.
After the first leg draw (in which Bayer also fell behind 0-2, finally managing to draw 2-2), Qarabag were leading 2-0 in most of the second leg, until they got a player red-carded at 63 minutes. Then Leverkusen scored at minutes 72, 93 and 97, to advance by the minimum advantage of one goal. They scored not just one, but 2 goals in injury time. So, they prevailed by a hair.
So, can you all imagine the negativity here if Milan had advanced in the same way?
We advanced with two comfortable wins, 4-2 and 3-1, with all our goals in regulation time; of the conceded goals, two were from once-in-a-lifetime great shots that were hard to defend against, and one was a meaningless garbage time goal when we had already fully disengaged from the match. And… people still complained.
Leverkusen’s fans were thrilled and called it heroic. We kept bitching and complaining after a 4-2 win in first leg, and I even heard some complaints about having conceded a goal in today’s 3-1 away victory.
We must have one of the most negative fanbases in all of world soccer.
if it was pioli who coach leverkusen, i dont know how loud the insult to him LOL
How do some people don’t understand the difference in levels between Milan and Bayer Leverkusen?
Bayer Leverkusen is a club who is over achieving based on their market and squad quality.
Milan is under achieving.
Bayer finished 6th in Bundesliga last season, barely
quilified for the Europa league.
Bayern Munich spent 187 mil last summer, 147 the previous summer.
Bayer spent 81 mil last summer, just 15 mil the previous summer.
Bayern has established coach who has won titles including the UCL.
Bayer has a rookie coach.
Bayer has 10 points advantage in the Bundesliga over the mighty Bayern, and it isn’t because of better players or deeper pockets.
They are also 20 points ahead of Borussia Dortmund, same team that Milan finished behind in UCL group.
Milan is 16 points behind Inter In serie A even though over the last 2 years have spent the most money in the same league.
Bayer leverkusen is basically the Atalanta of Bundesliga.
Putting Bayer and Milan on the same level even today is like putting Milan on the same level to Atalanta.
Milan last 2 summers spent 180 mil compared to Bayer’s 95 mil.
They are undefeated in all competitions, even though they have a rookie coach and don’t have players like Theo Maignan or Leao on their team.
So who makes the difference?
The man setting up the tactics, strategy and picking the lineups. The coach.
And just because fans criticize Milan play, results and performance doesn’t mean that they think Milan is the worst team and facing relegation. It just mean that they are not performing based on the talent they have and expectations.
BTW FIRE PIOLI for sure, because he is the main culprit for the way Milan plays and performs. With better coach this same squad will be much closer to inter in serie A.
Milan is under achieving, Bayer is over achieving. That’s why their fans celebrate their players as heroes while Milan fans criticize Milan players.
If you and several others can’t handle the criticism that comes with being a fan of a big team, maybe you should support a small team like Atalanta.
and here we go the insult LOL
We are not underachieving. We are at the exact place where we should be: second Serie A team, given that this season, unfortunately, Inter does have a better team (take Lautaro from Inter and have him play for us; maybe our positions on the table would be reversed).
Our UCL group was the only one from which both teams that advanced made the quarter finals. We didn’t advance from the toughest group by a hair, thanks to most our players getting disabled. Last season we made the semis. That’s not underachieving. This season not even Inter made the quarters.
Pioli can’t perform miracles. He can’t make an old Giroud be extremely consistent and more prolific. He can’t make Jovic able to consistently perform.
Pioli can’t make Thiaw more experienced so that he stops making boneheaded mistakes that cost us points in at least four essential games. He couldn’t have the Scudetto CB team of Kalulu and Tomori because they got injured. He can’t make Kjaer any younger and faster.
Pioli had a great midfield but Kessie left, Tonali got sold; Bennacer got injured. He tried his best to integrate fast the new signings Loftus-Cheek and Reijnders, with considerable success.
Pioli has tried to provide opportunities to Chuk, so that the great Pulisic might have some rest (Puli is intelligent and excellent but he isn’t physically very imposing; used to be injury-prone so he does need some rest from time to time). Well, Pioli can’t make Chuk develop a right foot.
Pioli wasn’t responsible for Leão’s lost form, taking months to score again a goal in Serie A, absent from September through March. But then, Pioli did help Leão recover. He taught him to be less selfish and work more on assists. He improved his finishing. Leão is again performing at the highest level. Pioli always believed in Leão and kept propping him up, while the fans here kept repeatedly bashing Leão (not me!).
Pioli can’t make one of our players a great defensive midfielder like Kessie was. It’s on the management, for not providing a proper replacement when Kessie left. Our defense started conceding a lot after Kessie left. That’s not on Pioli.
Pioli has as many wins with Milan as Ancelotti (actually now he has more than Ancelotti), and he achieved them in a shorter time, and with a roster not as good as the one Ancelotti had.
Pioli is WAY better than you guys give him credit for. No, he is not perfect. Yes, I’ve criticized him myself, for being stubborn and not learning from certain mistakes. But no, he is far from being the moron that you guys depict.
“We must have one of the most negative fanbases in all of world soccer.”
Nope. Milan-fans are used to winning things. No one gets excited about finishing fourth or getting into the top-8 of EL. Our precious club has 2nd most UCL-championships. We have won the Club WC a few times. Should be celebrate a playoff-match against a team who’s not even in the TOP-40 clubs in Europe like we won the scudetto?
*Should we
Yes, we should celebrate any win by AC Milan. That’s what real fans do.
We had great success in the past but then we also had several years of very poor results. Now we are slowly recovering, and I cherish every win. Don’t you?
Oh, and I forgot to add: someone was even complaining that we were not trying to score more, after being ahead 7-2 in aggregate, with 10 minutes left! This, after we struggled with the most devastating injury crisis in all of world soccer, and after we had already lost one essential player to injury, this very game.
Fire Pioli!!! He allowed the team to slow down while leading 7-2 with 10 minutes left! Preposterous!!! We were in the brink of elimination from the Europa League and he dared to direct the team to slow down! He really risked Slavia scoring 6 goals in 10 minutes and beating us!!! Fire him, fire him!
By the way, we are facing relegation in Serie A, fire Pioli! We are only second place; maybe all the other 18 teams that are all below us, will come running and will relegate us!!! Fire him, fire him!
And Leão is such a lazy bum! He keeps scoring and scoring gorgeous goals and assisting and assisting his companions and thoroughly disorganizing the opponents’ defenses, but it’s all just luck, he sucks! Sell Leão! Sell Leão! He doesn’t deserve to wear the Milan jersey!
——–
Sigh…
LOL great sarcasm
Lol i feel you bro
Keeps scoring and scoring gorgeous goals? I didn’t see you saying that a month ago. Or two months ago. Or three months ago. 🙂
That’s obviously because Rafa was struggling a bit a few months ago with his finishing, although he had simultaneously increased the number of assists, and continued to disorganize defenses with double and triple marking, opening space for others. I said so MULTIPLE times. But now, Rafa has recovered and is again scoring multiple gorgeous goals (in addition to still producing assists and to still disorganizing defenses). Try to keep up.
Rafa is our best player, period. People who don’t see it must be blind.
Best player? Maybe. Maybe it’s Theo or Pulisic. Best-performing player? Nope.
Triple-marking? LOL. Sure, if you say so. 😀 😀 😀
You said something MULTIPLE times? Repeating something many times won’t make it true though. You said many things but you said he keeps scoring and scoring gorgeous goals while he was goalless for half a season. You can sugarcoat it how you like but facts are still facts.
Whenever Maignan gets into a collision, he will be holding his knees. Maybe we might need to cash in on him this summer, especially if he doesn’t renew.
I feel sad for Chuk, he got put in and nobody gave him the ball.
Would prefer Terraciano to come on after halftime. Good time to let him accustom to the team.
Adli had one of his worst games, was expecting more of him since the opp is down to 10 men, but instead he kept giving the ball away.
Adli is a limited player who is overrated by a segment of the fanbase (hard to understand why) and likely even by Pioli. He can have good games and I’ve acknowledged him when he did, but all professional players at this level can, including people we all thought were very weak like Messias. I sincerely hope that Bennacer does recover fully his stellar form he had before the injury, so that the ideal midfield of Bennacer and Reijnders with Loftus-Cheek as CAM can become the stable starting midfield. Musah can come in as sub to relieve the starters as needed. Of course I’d love to see management get us a real replacement for Kessie, a real defensive midfielder but every time we hear of plans, it never seems like a good DM is being seriously considered.
Yes, good thought about Terraciano. He used to comfortably start in Serie A. Then he came in for us and he was a full blown disaster, costing us points. It’s understandable that Pioli got a bit spooked. But yes, we do need to integrate him back, and yes, with a 7-2 aggregate lead, it was safe to bring him in, so it is unfortunate that it didn’t happen.
Chuk, I think even his companions are afraid of passing the ball to him, given that he loses it so easily. For me, Chuk is the real bust of the last summer window, and I’m really afraid that it’s not just a question of his first Serie A season, as I don’t see how he can improve, being the oddity of a right winger without a right foot. I think we should loan Chuk to La Liga; he seems to do better there, so to prop up his market value, and then we should sell him.
Maignan seems to be made of glass, and his overall performance has dropped from when he was at Lille, and then dropped further. He had a very positive index of saved good shots of +7 with Lille, then dropped to a still very good +4.3 with Milan in the beginning, but now dropped further to a dismal -3. Yep, from positive 7 to negative 3. This looks like someone who needs to be sold, in my opinion. I’m grateful to him for his performance in the Scudetto season but he doesn’t seem to be the same goalkeeper any longer, for whatever reason (I don’t know why he declined so sharply, if it’s physical or mental or both, but it is clear that he did decline). I think we should sell him before his performance drops even further. He is still our best goalkeeper but he is no longer Serie A’s best goalkeeper so if we sell him well, we might be able to get a better replacement. Sad but true.
“ Adli is a limited player who is overrated by a segment of the fanbase (hard to understand why) and likely even by Pioli.” LOLOLOLOLOLO
OR it could be that he is just a YOUNG player learning a NEW POSITION that he has never played before? Just a thought friend 😂
Nope, he’s limited.
Not even a positive comment on anyone you mentioned. You comment is so toxic and I’m sure you can’t even tie the laces of your boots.
I have posted many positive comments on Rafa, Theo, Puli, L-C, Reijnders, Tomori, etc etc
I happen to think that Adli, Terraciano, and especially Chuk aren’t that impressive, and Mike is in decline, unfortunately, and I think I’m right about it. Deal with it.
I’m not a toxic fan. I’ve been defending the team in many posts, and praising many of our players. This specific post was to address the ones I don’t find to be particularly good. All teams have great players, and so-so players. We have to be realistic about. It’s not because someone wears a Milan jersey that I will automatically think they are great. Some are, some aren’t.
I will always support the team and root for them, and shout and chant my support when I’m at San Siro. But here we are commenting upon our club and players and sometimes I will post deserved criticism when it’s warranted, while also posting very positive things when it’s warranted.
If this hurts you, then don’t read me. I’m not forcing you to read me.
I hope we dont meet italian team, leverkusen, and liverpool. Other than that its okay
For what it’s worth, i didn’t like our 2nd half play, I’m just fearing that our creativity against low block teams are becoming static, we struggle to break defenses down…i hope the team was playing under instruction, if not there is work to be done to resolve this thing that’s creeping into our game. Good win, we take it and look forward to a favorable draw for the next round.
I think Pioli performs best when he is under the threat of getting fired. If you remember before we won Scudetto, they were openly talking about plans to appoint Ralf Rangnick and the magic happened in Milan and the rest is history. Now we no longer have that flow, or team spirit that won us the title.
We either keep him under constant threat or we just do it, but with someone who is good and not just anyone.
Frankly, we were very lucky in this game, and do not forget this is Slavia Prague, Leao is worth more than the entire team, including the stadium. How pathetic is that
There must be some law against criticising a manager after 7:2 win on aggregate.
Leao’s assist to Pulisic’s goal was an assist but Pulisic’s assist to Leao’s was just an “assist”. Yeah. Sure. Biased much?
Well done for the win, but Pioli has to leave for this team to grow, first of all, has anyone noticed that Giroud is physically and mentally tired, did Pioli have to leave him on for the whole match, couldn’t he have put Jovic or Okafor on, Pioli is clearly stunting their progress by not using them, and insisting on Giroud who is clearly on his end credits, he was completely lost and off his game, look at the chance he lost.
Then when you are leading 3 nil, could you not replace Calabria with Terraciano, to give him playing time and give him fitness, instead you put in a Kalulu that was not 100% fit, unless Milan sacks Pioli at the end of the season, this team will continue to play badly , with sporadic victories like yesterday, and we risk him burning the new players.