AC Milan’s positive start to the season continued with a win over the champions Napoli, and Luka Modric was again at the heart.
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Massimiliano Allegri has taken the Diavolo by the horns and, after five league games, led them to paradise. It is a paradise shared with Napoli and Roma, and a very slim one given that there are still 33 games to go.
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Milan continued to impress, winning their first big match of the season in the most significant way possible, playing a style of football that encompassed every possible nuance in 90 minutes: fluid, then sloppy, then under pressure, then with tenacity and grit.
It was a real rollercoaster, from repeated attacks to managing the game, even with suffering, of course, but above all with a ‘grinta’ that hadn’t been seen in a long time. Allegri’s Milan appear mature, and Modric is a big factor behind this.
We’re talking about a midfielder who, to call him just that, seems almost insulting. We’re talking about a kid, 40 years old, but still a kid at heart. Two images remain etched in the memory after Milan-Napoli.
One was desperation after a misplaced pass (one of the few) to Rafael Leao, and that uncontainable joy after the final whistle. Like a kid who has won the first important match of his career. And yet, we’re faced with a champion who has won everything there is to win.
Modric is the technical and emotional beacon of this team, He opens up and expands space, plays ahead of the game, the ball comes to him but in the meantime he’s already decided where to send it. One touch, two at most, he alternates seemingly simple plays with flashes of class that have enchanted the Bernabeu for years.
The Croatian is tireless too, in enviable physical form. He’s anything but a bench player, anything but a luxury reserve. Sure, his energy will need to be managed well, but Milan will play one game a week which certainly helps.
This is excellent news for Allegri and terrible news for rivals. A Modric like this, along with the rest of the team that supports him in the best possible way in both phases of the game, could be the perfect ingredient for Max’s new recipe.