Milan, from Jovic to Musah the second lines don’t go

After forty-three minutes of the first half, Milan only remotely resembled the original version: six of the ten players on the pitch were substitutes for the starting players. Or reserve of the reserve, like Mirante. Then Kalulu and Florenzi for Thiaw and Theo, Musah and Adli for Loftus-Cheek and Krunic. And without Pulisic anymore (who left shaking his head), sacrificed by Pioli in favor of tactical balance.

defence

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A situation in which the coach found himself with the red card after 40′ for Thiaw, guilty of having knocked out Kean as he launched towards a clear scoring opportunity. Even the attacking alternatives didn’t work, coming in in the second half in an attempt to give back ideas (and goals): Jovic only extended the series of inconclusive matches, Romero for Reijnders had the handbrake on and little time available to try to accelerate. Milan B, the one with the luxury reserves, doesn’t go this time. It’s true that Pioli’s choices were limited by a long series of injuries, but no surprise change came from the long bench.

jovic ghost

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The exception who confirmed the rule yesterday was Mirante, assistant to the assistant goalkeeper. Three excellent saves with which he prevented Juve from doubling their lead and fueled Milan’s vain hopes of a draw: two from Vlahovic, one from Cambiaso. In the other area Jovic wasn’t as incisive: he never shot towards Szczesny, a ghost who didn’t scare the Juventus defence. Pioli had chosen him as the attacking reference, him and not Okafor, instead of Giroud. Olivier’s energy must be conserved in view of Paris and Naples but, as had often happened in the past, his replacements made him regret it. There was no trace of Okafor, who spent 90 minutes on the bench, nor of baby Chaka Traoré, a winger from the Primavera team added to the reserves after Chukwueze’s injury.

little experience

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On nights like this the AC Milan fans expected Leao to light up, or they trusted in a turn from Giroud. Rafa actually tried, without his ideas being picked up. Olivier was the most dangerous, but energy management led Pioli to recall him to the bench. In conclusion, Leao hasn’t scored for two months, Giroud has been without goals for almost two. The second lines have adapted to the first. Loftus-Cheek’s muscles and experience would have been needed in the middle: from Musah only physical strength and little resourcefulness. Adli played his game, hard but not very incisive: better than Krunic, to whom he gave up his place, who was the unfortunate accomplice of Juventus’ winning goal. The Milan that finally saw Juve celebrate in the away section was a totally new Milan. With an almost entirely new defensive line, Kalulu, Kjaer, Tomori and Florenzi, and an attack that had very little of the Pu-Gi-Le, and which in fact did not knock Juve out: Romero, Jovic, Leao. The turnover, which on other occasions had rewarded Pioli, this time does not help him. A little comfort comes from thinking about Paris: at least Maignan and Theo will return.