Fight is elite! With a big win ahead of the Champions League showdown, Pioli and Milan are ready

Surprisingly beating the leader at the Maradona Stadium, Milan gave the creators a lot of new inspiration.

Tomorrow and the accident, actually arrived together.

For Milan, the victory over Napoli was an accident and good news. Although the game is no longer subversive in the context of Serie A, it is still an important turning point for the remaining two months of the away team's journey to boost morale and rebuild the mountains and rivers. Pioli spoke in his pre-match press conference: "In the last two months of last season, nobody was optimistic that we could win the title, just as nobody believes we can beat Napoli now. I think we can beat Napoli. ”

Pioli did.

Skin's defensive skills specialize in elite?

The bald headdown with Spalletti is likely to be a decisive key confrontation for Pioli for the season.

It's not easy. Milan's early season title defence was hopeless, with a poor away record being the most impressive. In 15 away games, Milan have only half of the theoretical highest points (22 points), and Serie A is 5th, a full 15-point gap by Napoli. Milan have lost four of their last five Serie A visits, with the only victory coming from their brother Monza, who has been bonded by a bond – a game that was equally difficult. It is no wonder that public opinion was almost unanimous in his pre-match side with Napoli. Even many Milan fans are drumming in their hearts: if you lose so badly against Udinese, what else can you do against Napoli?

But psychologically, this is another battle that Milan cannot lose, at least to ensure that the result is the same as the derby in January - and even if they lose, they must not lose too ugly. Otherwise, as soon as Napoli's invincible and insurmountable psychological barrier is established, Milan will collapse in the next two legs of the Champions League, and the last hope of the season is likely to be lost in the next half month.

At the critical moment, Pioli began to reorganize. Don't say, playing elite and hard, the old man has a lot of experience. Since he took over, Milan have won five times in Serie A over the top teams of the round, a record unrivaled in the same period. Being strong and surprising is an important reason why he has won the support of fans.

Completely targeting Kvarats Helia on the offensive end was an important tactical target made by Pioli, and it also achieved excellent results in the end.

Pioli's idea is to move the team back to the four-back lineup, abandoning the three-centre-back style of play that once forged an iron wall. Putting on their old shoes and going the old way, Milan still played a new trick: set up a full-time right-back in order to block Napoli's most powerful left-wing attacking line. Osimon withdrew from the competition to recover from his injuries, and Kvaratshelia naturally became the sharpest spearhead of the Napolians. The Georgian winger has posted a double-double with 12 goals and 10 assists in the league this season, accounting for 1/3 of Napoli's total output. Cutting off his link with the team is tantamount to cutting off Napoli's flames and leads. Most of the Napoli's attacking threat in the first half relied on Lobotka's long-range shots from outside the box, and Simeone Jr., who was helpless, had to frequently pull out of the box to get possession.

Stabilizing the defense and standing undefeated is Pioli's first idea, and it is also his tactical meaning to defeat the enemy. For 90 minutes, Milan's defense of the "alphabet brother" was exhaustive: Calabria was almost firmly nailed to the right-back position, not giving the Georgian winger the slightest space to gallop quickly. Once the special person is not well targeted, Diaz, who retreats from time to time, Krunic and Kjaar who support the right will quickly replenish the defense, leaving Kvaratshelia with little possibility of killing on the wing. Under such strict defense, the Georgian only had one cross in the box to create an absolute kill, and most of his energy was spent in the confrontation with Milan's defenders on the right wing.

Tonali's running heat map covers almost the entire midfield. A solid defense became Milan's magic weapon to overcome the enemy in this game.

Not only is it mainly stable on the right wing, but Dias is placed on the right wing in the starting formation, allowing Krunic, Bennaser and Tonali to form a defensive partnership in the middle of the field, and forge an impermeable iron wall in the middle. Leo's second goal came from Zelinski's dribbling error against Tonali in the middle, who then sent a pass that gave Leo wide space to attack. Tonali, who no longer frequently switches between offensive and defensive roles, has regained the feeling of a commander who was firmly in the military tent when he was in Brescia.

With Krunic and Tonali on his side, Bennaser was able to break away from the heavy defensive tasks and support Te'o and Leo on the left from time to time. This defensive approach of tightening the fence to occupy space is more suitable for Milan's play today. Pioli's post-match summary should also see the doorway: run-and-bomb play and high-post pressing tactics, which are gradually unable to cope with high-intensity intensive events. Liverpool, who were beaten by Manchester City, are role models, and Milan's own form in recent months has been a bloody and tearful past. To regain championship temperament, stable defense is the key.

Don't worry, the vicious battle has just begun

Dias broke the goal instantly. Milan's No.10 was the brightest presence in attack, leading the team's winning start.

Waiting for the opponent to be the first to show his empty space is a style of play that runs counter to Pioli's past philosophy of active pressing, but it is clearly more suitable for the Apennines' defensive and steady-first game environment. At the Maradona Stadium, Milan, who took the initiative to retreat, not only did not fall to the foreground in the first 15 minutes of the game, but used the counter-attack hole twice in a row to penetrate the home team's goal in 25 minutes. The last time the Napoli were so embarrassed in the first half hour of the league was in August '19, when Juventus took a two-goal lead in just 19 minutes. But Napoli were visiting Turin at the time, and it was much better to be humiliated in front of the home fans.

Diaz's 1 goal and 1 assist showed his strength, leaving Milan fans worried about his future again. Before the World Cup, although Dias had many flashes in Pioli's tactics, his weak physique and weakness in confrontation made him not irreplaceable in the midfield position. Milan have spent a lot of money to bring in De Ketlare this summer, which somewhat implies a new search for a core midfielder to replace Diaz. However, against Tottenham and Napoli, Dias has shown his strength in Milan's midfield technical ability. His straight stuffing for Leo and his calmness when he smashed the ball were both demonstrations of the skills of a technical player. In the midfield sapper Milan squad, Dias has at least another positive effect of the tactical effect, which has always made Milan interested in him, and Milan fans sincerely hope that he can continue to wear the number 10 shirt representing the core technical players for Milan.

Another significance of Diaz's activity is that it is possible for Milan to achieve the possibility of flying both wings together for the first time in many years - although in actual combat, Dias often retreats to assist the defense, but also runs to the left to attack. Dias, who played only 56 minutes in this game, was undoubtedly the first contributor to Milan's away victory.

Returning to the left winger position, Leo regained the joy of racing on the wing, and Milan were back on track.

In addition to his own excellent performance, Leo was activated, and the "Dior" group once again joined hands on the pitch to celebrate, which is a beautiful picture for Milan fans. Previously, the media inventory said that the left winger position under the 4321 formation was more suitable for Leo to play, and sure enough, this game was verified again.

But looking closely, Leo's first goal came from his pulling towards the centre-forward position, and it was clear that for him, position was not the first priority, and the space that allowed him to play to his speed and technical advantage was the space. With the 3-centre-back play, his forward space is more occupied by wing-backs who insert from time to time, and the team retreats deeper when defending, which also gives him less room to counterattack and sprint. In the second half of the game, Napoli, already in turmoil, completely exposed the core area for Milan's attackers to gallop, and it was only with Leo and Salle Markles that they scored Milan's most enjoyable away victory this season.

Olivier Giroud missed several chances to extend his third consecutive goal against Napoli.

When Napoli were drawn to the Champions League, Capello asserted that the form of Leo and Te'o in April directly determined how much hope Milan had left to advance to the last four. Now that the Champions League game is imminent, Leo has found his form in time at the Maradona Stadium to get rid of his demons, which is undoubtedly a great joy for Milan. It's no wonder that Spalletti, who complained at half-time that Leo grimaced and didn't respect the goal when he celebrated the goal, was scolded by Maldini, who guarded the calf: "What else are you going to do but complain? On the contrary, Leo on the side indifferently relieved Paul to dissipate his anger. The next two teams still have two vicious battles to fight, and it is really not time to fight fiercely. Getting to the next city will be psychologically positive for Milan, but don't forget that Ossimon still has a recovery period of about 10 days, and if nothing else, he should be able to catch the two legs of the Champions League, and Milan cannot be taken lightly. Breaking Ossimon's record of 100% win in Ossimon's absence, Milan should consider how to further break the myth of Napoli being invincible in Ossimon's presence.