A new record draw, Milan is the biggest spoiler in Group F?

After another draw away from home, Milan drew twice in a row without scoring a goal in the opening game of the Champions League for the first time in history.

The Red Devil crashed into the yellow Wall of Sighs.

In the second round of the Champions League group stage visit to Iduna's Signal Park, Milan scored an embarrassing record: it was the Rossoneri's first start to two consecutive draws in the Champions League and the first time they had won four consecutive Champions League matches across the season. Compared to the team's output of 2.1 goals per game in domestic competitions, the toughness of the Champions League opponents is clearly beyond the expectations of the new Milan of this squad.

Milan is still a little bit short

Chukwuzze came off the bench to create two killer chances, including an 86-minute solo goal that was denied by Korber, much to the Nigerian striker's regret.

Is the gap between the two arenas so big just because of luck? Not exactly. Paulo Di Canio's post-match assessment was pertinent: "Milan deserved six points, but they were still missing something. ”

What's missing? Di Canio didn't say it explicitly, but what he meant by his words should be personal game experience, team tacit understanding and other things that are difficult to concrete. For example, Chukwuzze's one-handed shot in the 86th minute, the offensive promotion cooperation has been played, what is lacking is the calmness and decisiveness of the kick, which is not what tactics and team cooperation can control.

Te'o and Leo's turnsing assault on the left flank made the team's left corridor extremely active. However, Teo, who had not yet recovered his best form, took several overruns and directly handed the ball to the opponent.

The 86-minute pass condensed Milan's attacking performance. Or seeing that the team's attack is easy to fall silent after Leo was restricted against Newcastle, Pioli gave Te'o and Pobega more freedom to move forward in this game. According to the statistics of the attacking side after the game, 49% of Milan's attacks were initiated by the left side, and Te'o and Leo constantly tried to create opportunities forward with the ball on the wing, and even used the speed advantage of the two to force breakthroughs.

In Serie A, Milan's offensive model has long knocked opponents. The second goal against Lazio was the most direct example of this pattern: Meignan went out to the wing and Te'o went straight down the touchline to the attacking Leo, who easily dribbled the ball through Marusic's defence and returned the pass, and Okafor, who was waiting in front of goal, stretched out his foot and scored.

Leo, the heart of the attack, was given priority attention to Dortmund's defence, with both Schlotebeck and Hummels receiving yellow cards for limiting Leo's breakout.

The same routine doesn't work with Dortmund. German goalkeeper Lehmann, who played for both teams before the game, reminded his former club that Milan's quick counter-attack may not work smoothly because of Hummels' recovery speed and defensive awareness.

As Lehmann expected, Terzić upgraded his defense on the basis of Hurmes's defense: abandoning Juller, who was tall on the defensive end, was precisely to avoid his shortcomings in turning back and chasing slowly, and better limit Milan's left-wing attacking play. Leo's often active left side was watched by Lürsson, Schlotebeck and Hummels, and once Leo had the momentum to pick up the momentum, the Milan threat was kept as far away from the box as possible. At the same time, the center closely guarded Giroud, and Milan's many attempts to cross from the wing in the first half were directly killed in the middle, which made Milan's attack seem lively, but lacked the opportunity to complete the fatal blow. Olivier Giroud's first-half shot from the penalty area was Milan's closest to goal, but unfortunately he and Te'o snatched the same drop point, instead causing mutual interference without Dortmund players watching.

The top competition still needs to be more delicate, Milan

Behind the 0-0 scoreline, both teams created a lot of chances. Milan missed three absolute chances in the game, so it's no wonder Pioli sighed helplessly after the game.

According to the statistics after the match, the two teams are not far apart in various key statistics, and the draw is a reasonable result. The Milanese are not convinced because they are far ahead of their opponents in the creation of absolute chances. This seems to be in line with Di Canio Milan's lack of experience and tacit understanding: can an experienced opponent handle it calmly when faced with a solo chance? For example, in the meeting between the two teams in Westphalia in the 02-03 season, Philippe Inzaghi scored the same chance as Chukwuzze. That leaves the question to be asked: if it was the more experienced Olivier Olivier Giroud who faced goalkeeper Kerber, would Milan have had a chance to take away three points away?

This question is real, but there is a suspicion of causal inversion. In fact, after replacing Christian Pulisic, Chukwuzze's overall performance had many highlights. Facing Milan's new force on the right, Borussia Dortmund's left defense has been a little difficult. Defensive Christian Priestic's extremely costly Bensebaini struggled to follow Chukwuzze's breakout rhythm, with the Nigerian winger having a straight inside shot past the goal. In other words, it was because Chukwuzze's arrival drove the change of Milan's wings, leaving the opponent with no time to look around, that the solo chance appeared in the 86th minute.

Chukwuzze's arrival in the 70th minute activated his team's right-wing attack, but unfortunately he failed to take advantage of both shots on goal and failed to repeat the magical scene of Messias's victory over Atletico.

Pioli's impatience at seeing a single chance fly away and smash a water bottle was understandable, but what he should reflect on after the game was whether his timing for removing Christian Pulisic was a bit delayed. If Chukwuze had been given a little more time to make his feet feel hotter, perhaps the ball would have had a better result.

Carefully summing up Milan's two draws, it is not difficult to find many striking similarities: in addition to the same scoreline, Milan missed a lot of opportunities, and Leo won the recognition in the individual selection after the game, but was unable to support the team to victory.

Leo, who was active, once again won the best trophy of the match after the game, but the team once again handed over a duck egg answer sheet that made it difficult for the Portuguese to smile.

Being able to be active under the extreme restrictions of his opponent proves that Leo has great personal strength, but how to turn his ability into a powerful output for the whole team, Pioli still lacks thinking. In both Champions League games, Leo's pass success rate was less than 80%, which was significantly different from his passing success rate of more than 90% in domestic competitions. When it was clear that Leo's offensive flames could wipe out most of Milan's attacking firepower, Pioli's current tactical thinking was still rough and lacked countermeasures.

Calling Chukwuze to activate the other side of the attack to open up a new attack line was an inevitable choice, and the actual combat effect was also verified by the last 20 minutes against Dortmund. The Champions League as a top stage requires Pioli to spend more thought and energy to plan, just like the league derby dialogue such a high-end game, Milan can not play with the established style of play alone.

How does spoiler Milan take the initiative?

With Newcastle's upset win at home to Paris, the atmosphere in the Death Group intensified. What will happen to the next 4 rounds of this group, it is really possible.

Milan, who have only two points from two games, have another bad news after the game: in the other game in the same group, Newcastle defeated Paris 4-1 at St James's Park, and unexpectedly topped the group at the end of two rounds, making the battle for qualification in this group even more confusing.

Prior to this, the general view of public opinion was that Group F Paris dominated the first gear with the thickness of the squad, Milan and Dortmund with the advantage of the background will probably fight for another qualification qualification, Newcastle, who have the least experience in the Champions League and the thinnest squad, can only accompany the last seat. Now that the situation has been completely turned upside down at the end of the two rounds, Milan, who have not scored in both games, look more like spoilers.

Te'o, who followed up during Chukwuze's attack, rushed into the opposing net, just like Milan, who could not grasp the initiative, is now cocooned and self-bound.

Pioli said after the game that the Paris defeat could be good news for Milan, and the intention was unclear. The defeat against Newcastle was a bloody lesson, and the old mistake of Paris underestimating the enemy was repeated, and after the road to qualification was blocked, more preparation energy would be focused on the two legs against Milan, which would increase the difficulty of Milan's match against the enemy. Enrique, who has no room for trial and error, will no longer engage in tactical experiments such as Mbappe organizing attacks against Milan, and with Milan's current defense, can he cope with the impact of the two wings of the Paris striker?

Playing Borussia Dortmund, Milan's wing defence made repeated mistakes. Fortunately, Tomori, Jaff and Moussa stood in the middle of the space, leaving not many opportunities for opponents to receive passes in the middle, and Brandt's barbed shot was the Hornets' best chance in the box. But against Kylian Mbappe and Dembele, who are significantly more impactful on the wing, can Milan's defence be so calm?

Leo, who carries Milan's attacking driving task, remains the team's biggest hope for qualifying for the Champions League next. In the 02-03 season, Inzaghi as the leader of the striker helped the team through two rounds of group stage blockade, including Borussia Dortmund. Can Leo replicate the achievements of Jiu Ye when he rode first?

Newcastle's proof that Paris has holes and is not small, which allows Milan to psychologically overcome their fear of the golden dollar goal. But if they can't solve the unfavorable problems, Milan can hardly expect to take advantage of the strongest opponents in this group. After all, Hakimi on the right side of Paris is known for his speed and impact, and his combination with Dembele will cause more trouble for Te'o. Once Te'o can no longer come to the front line at any time as he did in this match, Leo will have to face the Paris defense singles. Can this routine, which failed to succeed for Newcastle and Borussia Dortmund, work in Paris?