It’s been a few days since the Milan-Juventus draw and I’ve had some time to think about Milan, both in this game but also more broadly. So, I’ll talk a little about the game and spend a little bit of time to talk about where Milan are at as we endure the second international break of the season.
The game went about as I expected, especially early. In the matchday I said I expected Juventus to hunker down more, trying to get back to playing better defense as they’ve allowed a lot of goals to start the season. Playing at home, they were extra motivated to not lose the game…a familiar refrain for a Juve team.
I also thought the game would open up at some point, likely with a goal breaking the dam, and that didn’t happen…although it wasn’t because the game lacked opportunities. Clearly Pulisic missing the penalty hurt, as did Leão’s miss especially the one that he found himself unmarked right in front of goal on a bang-bang play. That shot just has to get on target. Juventus didn’t have a ton of great opportunities but the best one they had, the shot by Gatti from point blank, was spectacularly saved by Milan.
It was a decent game and a solid effort on the road vs a team a lot of people have finishing in the top 4 and some perhaps even contending for the Scudetto. I thought the team played well but not their best. Clearly they have to get the penalty kicking resolved. They’ve gone 7 for their last 13, worst not just in Serie A but in all of Europe’s top 5 leagues.
All of this brings us to how Milan has played so far this season and what we like and don’t like about the team so far. Overall, clearly Milan is in a good position even with the bad loss at home vs Cremonese, as they sit 3rd in the table just 2 points back. They’ve righted the ship, especially defensively, as they’ve only allowed one goal since the opener, a goal while being down a man to Napoli. In fact, they have 6 clean sheets in 8 total games across all competitions. Last season they were 18 games into the season before they had their 6th clean sheet, a game played on November 30, 2024.
They’ve done this with only a few of the new players playing and making an impact, although the ones that have played have been excellent with Modrić and Rabiot leading the way. Their play embodies the greatest change from last season, namely a midfield that is controlling games and helping sure-up a leaky defense while still providing enough going forward.
Estupiñan has been solid although Bartesaghi is clipping at his heels (he played well despite what you may have read on the socials). And while the resurgence of Tomori and overall better play from all the CBs has been welcomed, Milan is still waiting for Ricci and Nkunku to contribute and of course awaiting Jashari’s return from injury.
None of this takes into account that their best player, Rafael Leão, has only logged 66 minutes so far this season in all competitions. This makes Pulisic’s hot start all the more crucial especially with Giménez, who’s played well but has nonetheless only scored a single goal and has zero assists, all the more important. Milan being led and carried by an American. Who would’ve thought.
All of this means to me, at least, that Milan is playing ahead of the curve, and with this solid start and a light schedule compared to other Scudetto hopefuls, that 20th Scudetto can be a goal for them to aim for, something many of us, including myself, wasn’t exactly sure was reachable this season. Allegri and the team are proving a lot of people, including myself, wrong.
What Happened in Serie A
Napoli (1st) came back from a goal down to win 2-1 vs Genoa (19th) and get back to the top of the table. They are sharing the spot with Roma (2nd), who beat Fiorentina (17th) 2-1. Roma, with Gasperini leading the charge there now, lead, perhaps paradoxically, the league in defense having only conceded 2 league goals so far. He’s going to get them scoring more, let’s see if the stout defense continues…
Inter (4th) gave Cremonese (10th) their first lost of the season, a 4-1 shellacking. Cremonese’s dream of a top half of the table finish might already be fading. Atalanta (6th) drew 1-1 with Como (8th) while Bologna (7th) put the beatdown on Pisa (20th), winning 4-0. The 4 goals were nearly half of their season’s output so far.
Sassuolo (9th) have now won two in a row, beating Hellas Verona (18th) 1-0. Cagliari (11th) drew 1-1 with Udinese (12th) while Lazio (13th) had a 3-3 shootout with Torino (16th). Finally, Lecce (15th) got their first win of the season, beating Parma (14th) by the score of 1-0.
The table continues to regress back to the norm with the usual teams occupying or nearing the usual positions in the table. Let’s see where things are by the next international break in mid-November.
Now, ratings.
Player Ratings
Goal Keeping
MAIGNAN 8 – Solid game. Had a few saves but the one from point blank off of Gatti was definitely a goal-saver. Maignan continuing his bounce back season
Goal Keeping Overall 8
Defense
TOMORI 7 – Solid.
GABBIA 7.5 – Solid.
PAVLOVIĆ 7 – Solid.
Defense Overall 7
Midfield
SAELEMAEKERS 7 – Might of been his worst game of the season, and yet he was still pretty good.
FOFANA 6.5 – A lot of old Fofana in this game.
MODRIĆ 7.5 – Class.
RABIOT 7 – Solid but less impactful than he has been. Not sure why. Maybe trying too hard against his former team???
BARTESAGHI 7 – Very solid performance. Don’t let the haters fool you.
Midfield Overall 7
Forwards
PULISIC 6 – His least effective game and that was before the penalty miss.
GIMÉNEZ 7 – Putting in the work and is going to make Allegri think hard about benching him.
Forwards Overall 6.5
Subs
LOFTUS-CHEEK 6 – Meh.
LEÃO 6.5 – Did a lot of things well. Finishing wasn’t one of them.
NKUNKU 6 – Didn’t do much.
Subs Overall 6
Coaching
ALLEGRI 7 – I mentioned in the matchday that I thought it would be a more defensive approach from Juventus and sure enough they played it pretty safe for a large chunk of the game. With that in mind, I wanted Milan to press forward more than they did but I suppose this was very much on-brand for Allegri. Still, he’s been better than I thought he’d be, so I’m not going to hit him too hard on a draw on the road in Turin.
Final Thoughts
Coming out of the break, Milan will have 3 tough games although with how Fiorentina are playing, maybe that shouldn’t be considered tough at this stage (the break may have helped them regroup on top of them being due for a result, so this tie might end up being tricky). But during this stretch they will host Fiorentina and Pisa, then travel to Atalanta, then host Roma, and then travel to Parma before the next international break in November. Then they have Inter.
I will try and get another post out before Serie A resumes the weekend after next, although my kids have fall break so doing so might be tough. Worst comes to worst I’ll have something posted for the next matchday against Fiorentina, which is Sunday October 19th at 2:45pm EST/6:45pm GMT.
Until then (or maybe before…), Forza Milan.
gillis
