AC Milan made it a memorable night at San Siro on Wednesday as they swept aside Red Bull Salzburg in front of a sold-out crowd to tick off the first objective of the season.
It was the Olivier Giroud show under the lights of La Scala del Calcio as he scored a brace and also got a pair of assists as Milan cruised past Red Bull Salzburg, beating them 4-0 to secure passage into the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time since 2013-14.
Below is a tactical analysis from one of Pioli’s best wins as Milan coach…
Salzburg’s press
Since the core of Salzburg’s game has always been their pressing, it is worth taking a look back at the game that took place in Austria since it offered clues about how they would set up.
— Rohit Rajeev (@keralista_v2) September 8, 2022
In addition to the above, Salzburg also used ball oriented pressing sparingly whenever players occupied the half spaces near the halfway line.
Beating the press
So how did Milan beat the stifling press that neutralised them in the last meeting? When Calabria played for Milan he was given the license to roam by Pioli, however with Kalulu at right-back he acted more as a defensive full-back or even a third centre-back in possession.
One main advantage Salzburg had with their press was the midfield numbers advantage with their 4-3-1-2. To beat this Milan used a 3+2 build up method which outnumbered the number of players pressing them.
— Rohit Rajeev (@keralista_v2) November 4, 2022
Throughout the game Milan maintained a 3-4-2-1/3-5-2/3-4-1-2 shape on the ball in a fluid manner utilising different combinations to split the markers.
Further up the field Pioli asked his wingers to tuck inside so as to not allow the central dominance of Salzburg, while he asked Theo Hernandez to maintain the width.
Milan also maintained a quick release of the ball as we see below. One of the main principles of coaches – whether they played Catenaccio, Gegenpress or positional play – was to release the ball quickly to take advantage of the gaps created by Salzburg using heavy pressing.
— Rohit Rajeev (@keralista_v2) November 4, 2022
No answer to Turbo Theo
Theo Hernandez had one of the best games this season, but there is no doubt Pioli gave him a smart assignment to exploit Salzburg’s narrowness.
While the centre-backs of Salzburg were busy marking Giroud and Leao who drifted inside, it meant that the right-back of Salzburg had to make a decision. He either had to stay wide and risk creating the gap between the RCB and CB or he had to stay inside and create the space out wide for Theo to drift wide and cross the ball.
Below is the build up to the corner for the 1st goal. Notice how Dedic stayed wide and with Theo beating his man it opened the aforementioned space between the RB and CB.
Theo pic.twitter.com/3UCR7ieQIz
— Rohit Rajeev (@keralista_v2) November 4, 2022
Jaissle made a tactical change and decided to press Theo aggressively, something even using even three man at once in Seiwald, Sucic and Dedic, but even that didn’t work.
Tomori switched on
It is also worth mentioning an observation of how Tomori showed some top class awareness to make probably a goal saving block. Here are two different angles of how he scans his surroundings and realises a shot was incoming. Athleticism helps, but it is mostly in the mind to sense danger like that.
Rebic on the right
Playing Ante Rebic over on the right flank has been a new tactical move from Pioli, but is it sustainable?
Pioli selected Rebic because unlike classic wingers the Croatian (like Leao) likes to drift inside and behaves more like an inside forward rather than a classic winger who stays wide to create.
Rebic’s main strength has always been his pace during counter-attacks and Pioli, as mentioned above, wanted to exploit the gaps opened up by Salzburg through their heavy pressing when they lose the ball.
Nonetheless, there were some notable pitfalls. Kalulu is more defensive in nature than Calabria hence it gave Pioli more license to have an attacking right winger, as we saw when he experimented with Brahim Diaz on the right wing that produced his performance against Juventus.
Rebic allowed Kjærgaard out of his sights and this led to a big chance being created as we can see the Dane breaking off from his man. Realising the right side was a weak spot, Salzburg overloaded the flank with a 5v4 and created another dangerous chance.
Missed chances
No team can be 100% efficient but Milan need to take their chances better, as the Torino defeat taught us. Kalulu got into so much space on the break but he wasted a good opportunity to cross the ball.
The same also happened with Rebic, and Leao burst in behind and could have passed to Giroud. Small bits of decision making can go a long way.
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Conclusion
Conclusion
Pioli and his analysts did a perfect job of analysing Salzburg and finding their weakness. Salzburg’s PPDA was higher by almost 2 from the first leg which meant their pressing was not as effective which could be a problem with fatigue, but it takes a good coach and a good team to take advantage.
Therefore, we can say with confidence that the Rossoneri thoroughly earned their spot in the knockout stages, and now we wait for Monday’s draw.
Stefano Pioli is what you get if you cross an Italian philosophy professor with a Buddhist monk. Classy, analytical, humble, and austere, he has an authentic personality that I’m not alone in finding attractive. He’s an astute practitioner of the game and will lead the Rossoneri to great heights, provided his masters back him financially and don’t sell his best players. I’ve been following AC Milan for nearly 60 years and seen them rise and fall a few times during that time. They’re currently moving up in the world and I can’t wait until they rule it again.