Well, that surely what any of us wanted or expected. A win without Leão? Ok, probably not. But being down 2-0 after 11 minutes was downright brutal. Still, ending the game 2-0 is also not the end of the world so let’s dive into the ratings and some commentary.
One quick note: Michael Lisi knocked out the ratings here and I’ll come back in at the end, but it’s been a little while since he’s done some and I’m sure you’re all tired of my same’ol song & dance. So, enjoy Nonno’s wisdom, maybe learn a thing or two. Class is in session.
Let’s go…
gillis
Player Ratings
Goal Keeping
MAIGNAN 8 MOTM Feels weird to give the keeper an 8 and MOTM when you lose 2-0 but I’ll stand by it. Solid performance all the way around. Nothing he could do on the first two goals. That’s all on the defense. Made several saves in the first half that kept this within reach. The stop on Mkhitaryan around the 30th minute was out of this world. Without him this game ends 5-0 and next Tuesday is a glorified training match.
Goal Keeping Overall: 9.5
Defense
HERANDEZ 6 Made a few runs going forward but didn’t threaten much. Really needed that with Leão out. Teams continue to find that channel between him and Tonali and in front of Tomori to make runs that hurt us. Not saying that goal was entirely on him at all, just a regular area we have issues with.
TOMORI & KJÆR 6.5 Tomori seems to have some of his worst performances on CL nights. This wasn’t a total clunker but the first 30 minutes was no bueno. On the Dzeko goal that’s on Tomori and Kjær as much as Calabria. One of those 2 HAS to stay with him. There’s no way they can lose him to make Calabria his bitch. No way. Overall I thought Kjær was slightly better than Tomori but not much. A wise move to bring Thiaw on to face Lukaku.
CALABRIA 5 Treated like a child by Dzeko. Not entirely his fault as he should never be left with him but still he can’t get bodied like that. Horrendous. He is also getting heck for the DiMarco cross and goal but that’s not entirely on him. He gets back, gets himself between the player and goal and takes away the end line. You could say he should have closed down more but he’s still 30 yards from goal. You can’t get beat all the way out there. Could he have done better? Sure. Is that all his fault? No way. That cross goes 20 yards straight onto Mkhitaryan’s foot without anyone getting to it. Kjær misreads it. Theo falls down. Tonali is ball watching. Terrible.
Defense Overall: 6…not the worst performance all year by any means. Unfortunately one bad 5 minute stretch is all it takes though.
Midfield
TONALI 5/7 The first 30 minutes he’s just watching the game go by him. As alluded to above the Mkhitaryan goal is mostly his fault. Later on when he wakes up he imposes himself quite well. The midfield was much better as the game grew on. Should have had an assist on the through ball to Messias.
KRUNIC 5.5 As mentioned in the preview I was unsure as to what his role would be. He’s best when he’s man marking or at least has a specific role. Without that he tends to just wander around without any real direction or purpose. No Brozo meant he had no prime directive. That led to some bad positioning and mistakes.
BENNACER N/A Looked like shit and then came off hurt.
Midfield Overall: 6…and that’s being really nice.
Forwards
SAELEMAEKERS 6.5 Did Salad things but those things work best when level or protecting a lead. Thought he was ok but there were moments that Leão could have done so much better. had a first half break that evaporated quickly. Stays too wide and doesn’t really play off Giroud which Giroud really needs. Was wide open on a Messias cross early in the second half that could have changed everything. A quick goal after the break to make it 2-1 and it’s a whole new ballgame.
DÍAZ 7 Not his best game but kept plugging away all the way through. Took an incredible beating once placed into the middle, which I thought was a mistake. I would rather have seen CDK or Origi in to replace Bennacer. Putting Diaz there takes away 70% of what he can do. Still managed to create problems including one chance that just skipped wide of the post.
GIROUD 7 Almost wanna give him an N/A as he had almost no service at all. Certainly nothing within the 18. When he was able to receive the ball it was 30-40 yards from goal. This is the kinda game that the Giroud haters live for.
Forwards Overall: 7 Not great but not terrible.
Subs
MESSIAS 5 Hated this sub. Hated that he turned a through ball into a pile of crap. Hate that his one cut in and shot led to a lazy looper that went by the far post. Fine in a league game against Spezia. Worthless in a CL semifinal.
ORIGI He played.
THIAW 7 Bodied Lukaku. Got involved in the attack several times. Honestly was the perfect sub at the perfect time. Not that Kjær was bad, but really made you wonder whether the 3 man backline with him wasn’t the way to go all along.
POBEGA 7 Love what he brought. Had at least 2 solid chances, one of which fizzed just past the far post. The ball just explodes off his foot. If he can become more defensively adept he is the natural successor to Kessie/Krunic in the midfield.
KALULU
Subs Overall: 6.6 Helped defend and preserve the win: check and check
Coaching
PIOLI V INZAGHI
Some quick history: It wasn’t long ago that Inter owned this rivalry. Black and Blue images of Brozovic bangers and Lukaku making Romagnoli his prison bitch still haunt my nightmares. That changed when Pioli decided to employ what I call a ‘false center back’. I have a name for it because the team I coach uses a similar system. That persons job is to sit on the opposing CDM, Brozovic in this case, and break that connection from front to back. Kessie was born for that role and did it perfectly. For a few games the momentum swung back towards Milan. Brozovic was the lifeline for Handanovic and without that he was lumping long balls that became quick turnovers that sparked Milan counters.
Inzaghi’s answer? In the first matchup against Milan this year he started Hakan, Barella and Mkhitaryan. No Brozovic. Milan won but I think that showed Inzaghi the way. Credit to Inzaghi for seeing that. In the second matchup this season he did the same and Inter dominated. These 3 are more similar and all interchange with each other. This took away Milan’s ability to focus on a single player or area of the pitch. Combine that with the width that players like Dimarco and Dumfries provide, Dzeko constantly changing the point of attack and Milan ends up doing a lot of chasing. Milan wants to play more man to man while focusing on shutting down certain areas. That was the case against Napoli. Everything they do goes through Kvara. Milan could commit 4-5 players in that quadrant, ignore almost everyone else and shut them down. Evidence? 1 goal in 180 minutes. Evidence Inter’s more spread out rotating approach works? 2 goals in 11 minutes.
What Inzaghi also did which I expected was to come out and attack. Milan would have been more than happy to play out a 0-0 draw without the threat of Leão. So why would Inter sit back and give them that gift? Instead they came out and pushed almost all game. There was no hold up or chop backs. It was all straight lines directly towards the Milan goal. Runner after runner was pounding the box like it was their wedding night.
Pioli blinked and it was 2-0. Then he blinked again and Bennacer was coming off. Then he made a blunder and brought on Messias. I think it was smart to go offensive but I think bringing Diaz central was the mistake. Leave him wide and bring on CDK or Pobega. As mentioned above moving Diaz centrally is a double negative. As the game wore on Pioli realized the way to go was probably the 352 and really park the bus. He slowly embraced that but it was too late. In retrospect I wouldn’t say he failed as much as Inzaghi was just better. I think he does a really good job at envisioning how the game will play out and adjusting accordingly. Also for better or worse he sticks to a plan.
Final Thoughts
Ok, first thing first: Nonno Lisi always brings the goods. Love his commentary.
I also wanted to update everyone that it appears Bennacer has a meniscus injury and is going to have surgery, likely being out about 3 months. Glad it’s not an ACL but still bad timing with a top 4 league finish already on shaky ground. This means Pobega is likely to get some extra playing time and Brahim is going to move back into the CAM probably full time. I would say it’s an opportunity for CDK but who knows what’s going on there.
Finally, Milan has Spezia on Saturday and without Leão it was already going to be a tall order. Now throw in no Bennacer and Spezia playing for their relegation lives, I’m going to be thrilled if Milan can eek out the narrowest of victories. We’ll have more on this in the Weekend League Whip-Around tomorrow, then a little bit more in the matchday post Saturday. One thing is for sure, the Champions League dream is a little further away today than it was at the start of yesterday, so every remaining league game just grew in importance.
Until then, forza Milan.
gillis & Lisi
