Milan got back to winning ways against Fiorentina at the Artemio Franchi with a gritty 3-2 win in a well fought match. Here is a tactical analysis of the match.
LINE-UPS
Milan lined up in their usual 4-2-3-1 formation while Fiorentina lined up in an unusual 4-4-2 formation basically to press Milan further up the field while not compromising space in the wings if Milan counter attacks
FIORENTINA ON AND OFF THE BALL.
Off the ball Fiorentina maintained a midfield double pivot and 2 wide men and defended in a 4-4-2 formation with Ribery and Vlahovic pressing Milan’s 2 center-backs.
On the ball Fiorentina played a assymetric 3-4-2-1 with Milenkovic and Pezella staying as the center-backs and Martinez and Caceres pushing forward as the full backs. Esseyric and Ribery played behind Vlahovic.
RESPECT FOR RIBERY
While Ribery may be at the far end of his career, Ribery has proven that he is no spent force and needs to be respected. Pioli certainly did that and assigned his best player in the form of Frank the Tank Kessie to follow Ribery like a shadow wherever he goes. Kessie kept Ribery quiet for a good part of the game but was slow to react to his run from outside the box for Fiorentina’s second goal.
FIORENTINA’S PRESS AND MILAN’S COUNTER
Fiorentina like all recent teams who pressed Milan out of the park, tried to stop Milan from passing out from the back. They had Vlahovic and Ribery press the center-backs and Pulgar press Kessie.
Milan tried to break this press by passing towards Dalot and then using Kjaer to quickly switch play and have interplay between Theo and Hakan who would break free of the pressing of Bonaventura or Pulgar.
FIORENTINA’S HIGH LINE
Once again Fiorentina’s idea was to press and therefore they played a high line and this was easily pierced by Kjaer with a long ball over the the top for Zlatan’s goal.
CONCLUSION
It was bracing to see a Milan so inconsistent come back from 2-1 down to win 3-2. Hopefully this provides the team with confidence to power through the last 10 games and confirm the Champions League spot or even Win the the scudetto.
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