Player Ratings: Dinamo Zagreb 0-4 AC Milan – Gabbia shines; midfield duo crucial

By Isak Möller -

AC Milan secured another big win as they beat Dinamo Zagreb by four goals to nil away from home. There were quite a few stand-out performances and down below are the player ratings for the Rossoneri. 

Starting XI

Tatarusanu (6.5): He didn’t have that much to do this game but when called upon, he stopped the balls. He also did well with his feet today, so a decent performance for him between the sticks. (Note: rating amended to reflect description).

Kalulu (6.5): Tireless on the right flank with excellent decision-making out there tonight. He knew when to push forward and drop off, which was useful for Milan’s balance.

Kjaer (6.5): A leader in the defence, of course, and he was a calm influence as well. Stopped the strikers with ease and also showed off his passing a few times.

Gabbia (7.5 – MOTM): He bagged his first goal for the club with a nice diving header and he was flawless in defence. Always followed his man closely and won the duels as well, which was nice to see.

 

Hernandez (6.5): A few runs made life difficult for the home side but we didn’t really see that much of it this evening. A good performance nonetheless in defence and in attack.

Bennacer (7.5): When Milan struggled a bit at the start, he was the one making sure the ball was won back and that it was kept in the team afterwards. It’s easy to forget sometimes but he was so important out there tonight, doing the dirty work.

Tonali (7.5): Wonderful delivery on the set pieces (not just the goal) and he was very useful on the right flank. Won the penalty after he made the run into the box and – as alluded to – got the assist for Gabbia.

Rebic (6): Certainly not his finest performance with a lot of rocky moves but he improved a little as the game went on. It was a nice backheel for Tonali before the penalty, but to get a higher rating more composure would’ve been needed.

De Ketelaere (5): He continued to struggle out there tonight, getting carded and failing to make the right decisions. He still needs time, evidently.

Leao (7): Created the second goal all by himself and also ‘assisted’ the own-goal after a nice run. He looked a little lacklustre in the first half but when needed, he turns up.

Giroud (6.5): It was a nice penalty (unsavable) but he struggled to find the back of the net other than that. Many chances, some better than others, but his efforts were always too straight at the keeper. He was a bit unlucky too, it must be said.

Substitutes

Krunic (5.5): He was a good resource but missed an absolute sitter as he was one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Ballo-Toure (6): Solid in defence and a few runs in attack, not much else.

Pobega (6): Strong as always and got a goal, though it was ruled out for offside.

Messias (6): He tried quite a lot and had a few nice moves, but nothing spectacular.

Origi (N/A): He didn’t play enough to get a rating but he looked good again.

Tags AC Milan AC Milan Player Ratings Dinamo Zagreb Ismaël Bennacer Matteo Gabbia Sandro Tonali

59 Comments

    1. CDK was poor. And his performances are getting worse and worse. It’s starting to get worrying as he should be improving and not going worse.

  1. Great performance to the team. Now let’s close out next week and make the money.

    It was also nice to see a really well officiated game — especially after the horror show against Chelsea. Game flowed and the game was called fairly for both sides.

  2. What CDK good at is, make Diaz looks spectacular. He lost confident. There is no pressure for him, most of the fanbase are soft on him. He just playing without any interest tonight.

  3. Rebic a 6!?? What are you smoking? His performance was a tireless team performance, he was very important today and although he made some mistakes he was absolutely critical for us today. I think we have a new RW.

    The rest of your rating were pretty good, Tata was maybe more of a 6.5 and Kalulu & Kjaer a 7

    1. He worked hard, but his touch was awful. He has some of the worst touches of any player I’ve ever seen, and his first-half performance was terrible.

      1. ” He has some of the worst touches of any player I’ve ever seen”

        I guess you haven’t seen Lukaku play. Rebic did provide a few genius passes and was unlucky not to score himself too.

        Terrible first-half performance? LOL. Still miles ahead of the other RWs we’ve seen in the last 3-5 years.

    2. Calm down with the Rebic praise all the time. He was terrible in the first half, slightly better in the second. His first touch and ball control is super clumsy.

    3. Well, Rebic didn’t do what he could do. We all know that and we watched the game. He put in a lot of effort as always. I wonder if he has 4 hearts pumping his runs. But I think it just wasn’t his night. Probably it wasn’t a good idea to use him as RW.
      Agree that Tata deserved more than 6.5

  4. The renewal of Leão is an absolute priority, well, it is possible that the board will not be successful in this endeavor, ok, s*h*i*t happens, but any fan who has the DESIRE that Milan get rid of the player, honestly, does not know how to distinguish a soccer ball from a pineapple .

      1. “dribble almost flawless”

        You mean the dribble before the goal where he actually lost the ball miserably but got lucky as the defender got shocked to get the ball so easily that he fell on his ass and the ball bounced back to Leao’s trajectory? 😀

    1. I’m sure no Milan fans have a desire to let him go. The only issue is that his contractual matter. If the renewal doesn’t come to light and keeps getting dwelled, well emotional aside, it’s only logical to sell him rather that to see one our best players leave for free again.

    1. I mean….
      dont u see the match? we are playing football where we cross into the box dangerously. If it connects, we score. If it doesnt connect, its off target. we dont do long shot trick shit here

    2. I think one of the two from Salzburg, whom we’ll see doing everything to. make. our lives miserable next week, might be a perfect match. Hope you know of whom I’m speaking (referring) to.

  5. It is pretty crazy looking at the difference between De Ketelaere and someone like Rebic. In the first half, Rebic was atrocious. He couldn’t do a single thing right, but he kept plugging away and working hard, and sometimes that is enough. CDK, on the other hand, has great touch and a great mind for football but evidently, his confidence is entirely shot. He is more than comfortable being invisible for large portions of the match. He desperately needs a confidence boost, and maybe a goal would do that for him.

    1. Did you watch the same game?? Rebic does so much hard work for the team throughout the game – and he was much better than Messias and Saladmaker on the RW.

  6. I’m honestly not the least bit worried about CDK’s disappointing level of perfomance so far. Some players really take a season or even two to fully adapt to a new environment. One must be patient, because he is a very good player.

    1. CDK is clearly overrated, he is just not as good as publicized, he is sluggish, he doesn’t charge and when he does, it’s poorly done, he is just poor.

      1. The kid needs time to adapt, it took Leao 2 seasons, it took Tonali 1, you can’t just expect him to be brilliant out of the gate, new country new style of football. Let’s see if you go to another country and do something, you will probably be living on the street or seeking help from the government within a week

  7. Kjaer remains a crucial personalty in our backing. His leadership and coordination has moulded all the lads – from Tomori to Kalulu and even Gabbia. Also worthy to note is that when he plays, we appear unbreakable at the back.

    1. Lol. “And even Gabbia” it’s funny how skewed people’s view of him is. Honestly I can remember maybe 2 bad games from him his entire time with us. The rest he’s either been solid or excellent and people refuse to give him credit. Disgusting.

      1. I completely agree. Gabbia is underrated. Actually given what I’ve seen so far this season I rather give him the start next to Tomori with Kalulu at RB until Calabria returns. The more playing time he gets, the better he will be.

  8. As always with sempremilan, Tata gets a lower rating than he actually deserves. I read the ratings after every game and the bias in his ratings and comments, compared to those of Maignan, is just too obvious. His play was as professional as it gets tonight, not just “decent,” and I believe he deserves an undisputed 7, as does all the defense.

  9. Good win against a poor opponent.
    Everyone played OK.
    Rebic was sloppy in the first half but the effort is always there. Was much better in the 2nd half.
    CDK had a decent game. I would like to see him play a little deeper in the midfield. Too bad for the quick yellow and the sub.
    They were very wasteful in front of the goal.
    Happy for Gabbia and his 1st goal.
    On to Torino

  10. We seem to look more solid with Kjaer or Gabbia at the backline. Kalulu X Tomori combo probably isn’t the ideal backline.
    I mean, it’s been evident lately.

    1. You may he right. Tomori and Kalulu have a very similar charge out the back style that sometimes leads to big gaps/poor shape. One of Kjaer or Gabbia might be better to pair with Tomori. Thing is, the aforementioned notwithstanding, I think Kalulu is a great defender who has done excellently at RB. His pace in that position is an asset. Crazy to think about, but it may just be Calabria losing his place.

      1. I have the same thought. I also think that Pioli should consider playing Calabria as DM, if Kalulu overtakes his place. He has a very good tactical ability and quite good skillset to play that role, as he showed in few games last season.
        But again, we already have Tonali and Bennacer there.

  11. CDK plays to far up the pitch. Need to make it a priority to give him the ball in space. Feel like he is lost out there and needs some different tactical instruction for him to unlock. Would help to play with Origi over Giroud as well

  12. Good win. Mostly good performances from everyone, except for CDK who was terrible and Rebic who gave a good effort but his first touch is horrible. Kjaer looked good, I think Kalulu should stay out on the right, he delivers a really good cross from out there. Gabbia looking strong too. Let’s give it up for Tata for doing a good job.

  13. Solid easy win.
    Dinamo, besides the first 5-10 minutes didn’t do much.
    I mostly agree with the ratings.
    For me the best players on the field by far were Tonali and Bennacer. They dominated the midfield throughout the game.
    Milan defense didn’t have to do much .
    I get the high rating for Gabbia because of the goal he scored, but it should be a half a point lower than Sandro and Isma’s.
    Offensively Milan was very wasteful. Giroud twice and Rebic once completely missed the ball on a shot. Krunic 1v1 and than Rebic at the end.
    But the selfishness upfront continues.
    Pioli should insist on making the extra pass with his forwards.
    Now beat Salzburg and collect that extra 60 mills. But with a favorable match up, anything can happen in the knock out stages.
    Forza Milan

  14. Gabbia is flawless tonight and people still find ways to hate or downgrade the performance. Whats new though for Milan fans…. always hating on their own, always backhanded compliments. Calabria and Gabbia the 2 homegrown players are the most scrutinized. Every mistake is highlighted 10-fold and they need twice the good performances that any other player to get any love, it really is pathetic.

  15. Well, I know we all love our defenders a lot. But how is that possible that our opponent made 8 goal attempts on target? That is too much and it means there’s something wrong with these numbers. We are blind now because of the victory excitement.

    Tata was the best player in the first half and in the last 20 minutes of the second one. I would give MOTM to him this time. If he conceded a single goal life would be much harder for us considering how bad were our attacks in the first half. We scored the first goal after a free kick, remember? We didn’t create anything while Zagreb had 4-5 goal attempts on target.

    1. “We didn’t create anything while Zagreb had 4-5 goal attempts on target”

      You definitely didn’t watch the match and only check livescore stats 🤦‍♂️

      Before Gabbia goal, Giroud heel shot + header and Kjaer volley shot got blocked by Zagreb GK and two Rebic shots and CDK shot got blocked by Zagreb defender.

      Next time watch the match.

  16. People keep flaming a kid that joined Milan and didn’t go through whole pre season, he needs some time to adapt. And you are complimenting Giroud for missing a bunch of clear chances, again. At 36. I’m sure that if you put CDK up there he wouldn’t score less than Giroud in 20 matches. A wooden pole would do the same.

  17. Difficult to assess CDK. He was trying too hard and I believe Pioli should have left him on, as it would have been an ideal position for him to get on the scoresheet and build his confidence..

    1. Pioli subs CDK because he got yellow. Pioli doesn’t want him to get the second yellow and missed out the match against Salzburg.

      CDK will get another chance at the end of this week against Torino.

  18. I see your point, and I agree. I also think that Pioli should consider playing Calabria as DM, if Kalulu overtakes his place. He has a very good tactical ability and quite good skillset to play that role, as he showed in few games last season.
    But again, we already have Tonali and Bennacer there.

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