Verona 1-3 Milan: goals from Tonali (brace) and Florenzi. Inter at -2

From now on, woe to those who still put the adjective fatal in front of the word Verona. Those were other times, dead and gone. Because this time Milan in Verona virtually sewed half the Scudetto on the shirt. Exaggerated? Do you: now the checkered flag is missing only two corners and the Devil has not only put the two points advantage over Inter back in his pocket, but has kept the “bonus”. In the next 180 minutes he can even take the luxury of conceding a draw. Four points for a party that has been missing for eleven years and which, judging by this match, Milan have every intention of celebrating. Because crashing Verona at home 3-1 can easily be categorized under the heading of seasonal companies. Against a team in great shape and in a hot environment (but with 16,000 Rossoneri hearts in tow). As hot as San Siro will be next Sunday with Atalanta. It is already a first match point: with AC Milan winning and the Nerazzurri not (in Cagliari), it would be the Scudetto.

They decided a brace from Tonali, which sanctified his 22nd birthday, and a goal from Florenzi. A comeback victory, after the Venetian advantage of Faraoni, obtained with the maturity of the great team: without getting lost, continuing to weave their own football. To comfort in view of the last two matches is also the athletic condition: the legs turn and withstand the shocks. And Pioli, as we will explain, has pulled a winning tactic card out of the hat again. With all due respect to those who ensured that he had only one score, now too predictable. Fourteen useful results in a row, two goals conceded since the beginning of March: this is Milan that is pouncing on the Scudetto.

The choices

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For Pioli, then, also the satisfaction of finding himself with an empty infirmary. Only one unavailable (Kjaer), the minimum share obtained only once in a year massacred by all kinds of troubles. So multiple options for the Rossoneri coach, who has changed the trocar by two thirds compared to Fiorentina: inside Saelemaekers and Krunic (in a central position), or median without Bennacer and entrusted to the Tonali-Kessie tandem. In front of Giroud. At the heart of the defense Kalulu and Tomori. Tudor also confirms the hypotheses of the eve, confirming Gunter in the center of the defense and preferring Lazovic to Depaoli on the left. Attack entrusted to Barak-Caprari-Simeone: all in double figures, 39 goals in three. How much effort, however, in the first half hour, to find the bet. Indeed, even just to tempt it. A Hellas split in two, with the trident detached from the rest of the team because Milan hammered incessantly in the first thirty minutes, preventing the yellow-blue median from assisting the attackers and the defense from organizing themselves. First of all, thanks to the attitude: bad, aggressive, lucid. It is not for everyone to send Hellas underwater in his house. And then the absolute merit of Pioli, who once again shuffled the cards in particular with two moves: Hernandez a lot (but a lot) inside the field, a sort of added midfielder, and above all Tonali completely “out of position”, if by position natural we mean the usual square meters dedicated to directing. The 8 Rossoneri practically moved between trocar and attack, thanks to the spaces opened by Krunic’s movements, and it was the Piolian stunt that most sent the Venetians into difficulty despite Ilic’s constant man-marking. Next to him, as mentioned, Krunic moved intelligently (effective in double phase), as was the game of Saelemaekers, who understood not to have to overdo it and effectively assisted the offensive phase.

(Pre) potency

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First half an hour almost one-way, we said. The first real ring was in the 14th minute with a header from Krunic smanacciato away under the crossbar from Montipò. A minute later AC Milan passed: launch of Maignan – a luxurious solution already seen this season – directly for Tonali stationed at the edge of the area, the 8 Rossoneri freed himself with the strength of Ilic and beat Montipò, but the check of the Var has decreed the (right) offside. Backlashes? Nobody. The Devil continued to press the accelerator and the Gialloblù goalkeeper had to save on Calabria (19 ‘), while Krunic sent a right-footed shot just over the crossbar (27’). Two breaks for Hellas, one with Caprari and the other with Simeone, both on the outside of the Rossoneri network. Chills anyway for Maignan, who in the 38th minute raised the white flag at the end of an action by Verona that made the whole Milan look bad: action triggered by the Venetian defense, with a vertical pass that cut out the trocar and Rossoneri median, and development on the left with a cross from Lazovic and a winning header from Faraoni. Bad all the defensive line of Milan. For Milan it was enough to lower the intensity a minimum to enhance all the qualities of Tudor’s team. Again, however, the Devil was ripe. He did not disunite – in the game and in his head -, he did not panic but waited, patiently and struck at the sunset of the first half: also in this it was a central defender – Tomori – who triggered a winger, Leao, who he went off of (pre) power to Casale and served Tonali in the small area for the winning touch. Tonali again, again as an added forward.

Pressure not

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The draw to the last breath put pressure on the Rossoneri’s turbo, who returned to the field in the second half with the clear intention of closing the case. Five minutes and the doubling has arrived. On the counterattack, with an action initiated by Saelemaekers and the ball delivered on the best possible feet for a restart, namely those of Leao. The Portuguese left Barak in place and put in the middle again low and again for Tonali, who slipped into an empty net. At game time, with Verona aggressive in the Rossoneri half, Pioli put in Rebic for Giroud and Messias for Saelemaekers, even if it was not enough to stem the Venetian pressure, perhaps not as organized as we have learned to appreciate it, but enough constant. Hellas tried to surround Milan by passing through the wings, but in reality Maignan did not run really serious dangers. It was more a matter of keeping our nerve and maintaining the defensive organization, trying to close the throw-in match. Match that ended at minute 86 with a perfect diagonal from Florenzi, who chose to celebrate his return to the field after a month off. Messias then devoured the fourth goal, but it became a detail in the match of yet another triumph. And of a scudetto that is now really beginning to show itself.