In the early morning of January 18, Beijing time, the 2021-22 Serie A season ushered in a focus battle: AC Milan, who aspired to win the league, faced Spezia, who aspired to relegation, at home.
In the first match of this round of Serie A, the leader, the defending champion Inter Milan was forced to draw 0:0 by rivals Atalanta, and AC Milan ushered in a good opportunity to overtake the top. In the current Serie A standings, Inter Milan 21 has 50 points to rank first, AC Milan 21 to accumulate 48 points to rank second, the Rossoneri in this round if they defeat the weak team Spezia at home, they can beat the Nerazzurri to the top of the Serie A table with a one-point advantage in the case of more than one round.
Spezia has 19 points in 21 games and is 16th in the Serie A table, just three points more than Cagliari (22 points already) in the relegation zone, and relegation is still under pressure. On paper, AC Milan beat opponents like Spezia at home without much effort.
In the campaign, AC Milan started 4231, Ibrahimovic as a center forward, forward Díaz, two full-backs Leo and Saler Markles, double backs Bakayoko and Clunic, four defenders Teo, Gabia, Kalulu, Florenc, goalkeeper Mineon. The starting eleven are worth a total of 200 million euros. Two forwards, Rebić and Olivier Giroud, sit on the bench.
Spezia's total value is only 34.2 million euros, and the gap between the card strength and the AC Milan ratio is obvious.
In the last minute of the first half, Leo was brought down in the box, VAR intervened, AC Milan won a penalty, and captain Theo took the penalty, but it was deflected. The Spezia goalkeeper drove the ball off the door and was snatched by Cloonec, then with a long pass, Leo took the ball into the box and picked the goalkeeper to empty the goal. AC Milan led Spezia 1-0.
After scoring this goal, Leo became the most goal-scoring Serie A player in 2022 with 5 goals (3 goals and 2 assists). Gbagbo Sport (High-Water-Position 1.97) Portuguese striker Leo, 22, has improved every season since joining AC Milan in the summer window of 2019, with 2019-20 Serie A stats of 12 starts, 12 starts and 1 assist in 31 games, and 22 starts of 22 starts and 6 assists in 2020-21 Serie A. So far this season, Leo has played 23 games for Milan in all competitions, contributing 8 goals and 5 assists, creating the most goals for the team.
This round of Inter Milan was forced to draw 0-0 by Atalanta, ending an 8-game winning streak, exposing the problem of lacking a core, the leader on the field. Juventus frontcourt core Dybala is such a candidate. Dybala's contract with Juve expires this summer, but there have been some problems with the renewal. Like last year's AC Milan's Char Khan Oulu, the conditions for contract renewal are not negotiated, Dybala becomes a free agent at the end of the season, and Inter's opportunity comes.
Leo was likened to the "new Henry" by AC Milan coach Pioli, and Leo, who played next to Ibrahimovic, could become the leader of the new generation of the Rossoneri if he could cash in his talent. But judging by the performance of this game, Leo is still a long way from becoming the core of Milan. The "new Henry", at best, is Henry before joining Arsenal.
Entering the second half, the situation on the field suddenly changed, AC Milan still attacked like a tide, but it was invincible, and the weak Spezia played the powerful AC Milan, and there was no idea of actively disarming at all. In the 63rd minute, Spezia equalised with Agudero scoring.
The game went into full stoppage time, and in the 91st minute, Messias scored in vain. In the 93rd minute, Ibrahimovic's set-piece shot was saved, followed by a Milan corner kick that hit the crossbar with Ibrahimovic's header. Milan pressed the attack, but the defense was empty, and in the 95th minute, Giasi scored and AC Milan was defeated by Spezia 2-1!
This match, which was Ibrahimovic's 150th milestone game for AC Milan, was unfortunately messed up and failed to score in the full game. After the battle, AC Milan failed to climb to the top of the table, and was 2 points behind Inter Milan in the first round of the multi-match round, and Napoli, who beat Bologna 2-0 away in this round, was only 2 points less than AC Milan.