In a night that will go a long way in the memories of Milan fans, Milan best Scudetto champions Juventus 4-2 after coming from 2 goals down. Thanks to goals from Ibrahimoviç, Leão, Kessie and Rebic, Milan get the full 3 points and solidify their claim for a Europa league spot next season. Here is a tactical analysis of the game
1st Half
Milan switched back to the 4-4-2 formation that it uses before the forced break due to corona. Ibrahimoviç played as their furthest striker while Paqueta slotted in on the the left hand side and Saelemaeckers kept his place on the right in the absence of Castillejo. In attack Milan attacked with a 3-4-3/ 3-4-1-2 formation while they defended in a 4-4-1-1 formation
Juventus meanwhile played in their usual 4-3-3. Without Dybala, Chiellini and De Ligt the depth of the Bianconeri were tested. The front 3 were Ronaldo, Higuain and Bernadeschi while Rugani slotted in with Bonucci in the place of De Ligt. In attack Juventus could be seen using 3-4-3/3-4-1-2/3-5-2. The defenders would bring out the ball from the back and play quick vertical passes to the midfielders. A few elements of Napoli Sarriball could be seen with this Juve team.
The 1st half saw both team cancel our each other as Milan sat quite high and tried to get behind Juve’s high and quite agressive press. Milan once again used various passing combinations to get around the press and create chances but nothing came out of it.
Juve’s best chance came from Cristiano Ronaldo who drifted out wide on the left and cut back onto his left foot and unleashed a shot which took a deflection and went for a corner. As the game grew, Juventus grew into the game and you could see bentancur and Rabiot dropping in and combining with either pjanic or the full backs.
Juventus exploited Paqueta’s weak defensive skills as bentancur combined with cuardado or pjanic couple of times. Paqueta was even forced to challenge Bernadeschi as Theo often went up the pitch and isn’t as accomplished as Hakan when it comes to defending.
2nd Half
A half that saw 6 goals in total will have a lot to say. Juventus took the lead through a solo effort Rabiot. Rabiot picked up the ball from the right wing and dribbled past Theo. Higuain made a outward run which drew Kjær out of position and freed up space. Rabiot beat Alessio and outpaced him before shooting and opening the score
Few minutes later Milan were 2 goals down when Cuardado played a quick vertical pass to a waiting Ronaldo and a total miscommunication between our 2 CB’s freed Cristiano up to make it 2-0.
Juventus settled in nicely and pressed Milan horizontally very well often using upto 5 people in the press. To counter this, Kessie and Bennacer would drop in for Alessio to pass the ball and with quick passing combination with bennacer or even Hakan Kessie would break the press and move into a counter attack.
The first goal came via a handball off bonucci. After some good work on the left hand side between Rebic and Theo, the ball bounced off Bonucci’s hand and became a penalty which was converted by Zlatan.
The second goal was the coup dé grace. Once again Milan broke out from the back with Theo who passed the ball to Kessie. Kessie invited 2 Juve players to press him and released the ball quickly to Theo. And with 2 vertical passes Milan played the ball to Rebic who switched play to Leão waiting on the wings. Leao dribbled towards the centre. Leao played a horizontal ball to Kessie who combined with Hakan and Zlatan who held up the ball well against pressure from Rugani who passed it back to an onrushing Kessie. A bit of poor defending from Bonucci and Rugani and Kessie finished off a brilliant pass and move from a tight spot aka a deflection to make it 2-2 for Milan.
Milan who were defending a bit deeper than usual was using Rebic upfield as the solo man who was targetting Juve’s weak spot in Rugani. Juve turned up the ante and used both full back to attack Milan. Pioli then brought on Bonaventura and this restored the numbers in midfeild. Ronaldo who was isolated until that point dropped deep to get the ball from Bonucci but was tag teamed and tackled by Bonaventura and Hakan before they released Rebic on the counter. Rugani fouled Rebic who tried his best to hold off Rugani but Leão -unmarked- sped towards the ball from the right wing and scored off a deflection from a Rugani who was once again exposed. Milan scored 3 goals in 6 minutes. The only goal threat Juve conjured up after this was from a corner when Rugani got a free header but a top save from Donna kept it out.
The last goal, which might look like a silly mistake, came off smart pressing by milan. Matuidi was chased all the way behind by Leão who backheeled it to Sandro who took a turn and brought the ball to his left feet. Milan pressed high up the field. Bennacer covered bentancur and Leao cut off the passing channel to Matuidi. Sandro could not pass to Rugani via a ground pass becaude of Rebic. He then foolishly attempted a cross field pass which was interrupted by Bona and passed to Rebic who was free in the centre. The comeback complete and the champions were beaten.
Notes
I maybe pre-mature in making this assessment but Paqueta is not fit to play as a wide player. Overlapping full backs or overloads on his side with pacy players puts him on a difficult part. His best role would be in the centre. Rebic had a game of 2 halves. While he was poor in the first half, his constant pressing in the second as well as runs behind the defence tormenting Rugani worked for Milan. Hoping for more consistency. Saelemaeckers may not be the most technical player but he provides a outlet for quick counters for Milan. He has shown to coach Pioli as to why he deserves a spot with his workrate especially in defence
Sarriball hasn’t really taken flight in Juventus. Both their goals came from individual brilliance rather than goals borne out of brilliance of the system in Napoli. Often the pattern of movements and the chemistry in midfield from Juve seemed a bit off as they seemed to get on each other’s foot.
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