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.
