After 13 years, Milan will fight for a chance to qualify, can Leao be better?
In the 4th round of the Champions League group stage, Milan, which was not favored before the game, defeated Paris 2-1 and rekindled hope of qualifying from the group.
This time, everyone is satisfied, right?
It was about qualifying from the group, and Milan, who had zero goals and zero wins in the first round, walked on thin ice. Thanks to Borussia Dortmund's victory over Newcastle who were the first to kick off, the Milanese, who had only two points from the group, were in a precarious pre-match situation. If they can't win Paris at home, Milan will basically be declared early in the group stage. After falling behind by a goal in the first nine minutes, Milan stood on the edge of the cliff, who would have thought that Milan would be able to stage another comeback in the Champions League after 13 years?
Reversed after 13 years
On October 21, 2009, Milan came back from a one-goal deficit away from Real Madrid to beat their opponents 3-2. That was the last time Milan won the Champions League before this game.
Before the Champions League trip to the Bernabeu on October 21, 2009, Leonardo's Milan was in an up-and-down state, humiliating by Inter Milan by four goals in the second round of the league derby, losing unexpectedly at home to Zurich in the Champions League, and facing Marseille's fierce pursuit of the group to qualify. In the reunion with Kaka, Milan did not have much confidence before the game.
Raul's goal to break the deadlock in the 19th minute lived up to expectations, and the visiting Milanese were not confident of victory until Andrea Pirlo equalised with a stunning long-range strike in the second half. Pato's next two strikes surprised the Milan fans and turned the Rossoneri's group qualification situation into a precarious one. In the end, with two wins against Real Madrid and Marseille in the first round, and three 1-1 draws in the second round, Milan went to Marseille by two points and advanced to the round of 16 as the second in the group.
History is such a coincidence. Pioli also suffered a big defeat in the derby this season, although the league has temporarily stabilized in the Champions League qualification zone, but the overall performance has fallen seriously recently, before facing the giant Paris, the Champions League group hit 50 shots in three games without scoring a goal, and Benfica climbed the list of off-target teams, the situation is worse than Leonardo's situation back then. Being able to bottom out in this adversity is indeed worthy of praise from fans.
The return of the main force was just in time for Loftus-Cheek to be a surprise
Cardinale, who watched the team's reversal from the stands at the San Siro, waved excitedly. The victory in this match gave Milan a win-win on both a competitive and mental level.
Milan can win, and it has multiple motivational effects on the whole team. In front of owner Cardinale, Pioli proved that he was given a complete line-up, and his tactics were effective enough against strong opponents, which inevitably weakened the voices that have criticized and criticized him recently, and the good performance of the new signings led by Loftus-Cheek made Sacchi's pre-match criticism of Moncada "bringing in too many foreign players affect the overall atmosphere of the team" nowhere to settle, at least it proves that the new management's vision and route selection are not too problematic. Such a victory brings a spiritual harvest of unity and motivation for new players and veterans, and for Milan, which is at a low point, the significance is far more than the three points themselves.
In terms of meritorious deeds, Chick has made great contributions. Before the Paris game, although he was able to connect with Olivier Giroud and Christian Pulisic, two former Chelsea team-mates in attack, he always felt that he was not well integrated. Offensively, he has the occasional flashes of brilliance in the trio but is a little less threatening, and defensively lacks the toughness of a hard-line defender like Fikayo Tomori. It wasn't until the game was drawn up a more advanced position in the three-man midfield that Loftus-Cheek finally found room to play.
Loftus-Cheek, who completed 4 breakthroughs with the ball, 9 duels and 5 recoveries, was officially dubbed the "midfield monster" after the game. Loftus-Cheek has finally found his niche in Milan's midfield.
Against Ugarte, who is known for his toughness defensively, Loftus-Cheek struck a deflective edge, avoiding the opponent's frontal toughness and instead giving full play to his speed and instant explosiveness on the ball. Ugarte was clearly unprepared for Loftus-Cheek's onslaught, conceding Loftus-Cheek in the opening stages, giving him a good chance to shoot from open space in the box. In the face of Loftus-Cheek's sudden start and Leao's movement to the left midfield, the Uruguayan took care of the other, with two turnovers the highest in the game, and one was directly countered by Loftus-Cheek from his feet. Loftus-Cheek's return gave Milan a win in midfield and was a key factor in Milan's ability to limit Paris and play their own quick style to win their opponents.
The combination of the two Olympic Games, the source of Milan's goals
On the left, Te'o returned to play a "brotherly wall" with his brother Lucas, and his support for Leao was also obvious. Florenzi plays on the left side and does not have the impact and ball-holding ability of Te'o, and the cooperation between him and Leao is obviously not calling. Te'o's habit of holding the ball on the edge can draw more defensive attention for Leao, so that Leao's position can not be fixed on the sideline, so as to get more space to attack with the ball. Rafael Leao's equaliser in the 12th minute came from Te'o's flank to take Hakimi, and Leao broke the ball in the middle to Giroud on the left flank, Giroud's shot was saved back to the middle, and Leao completed a wonderful barb in front of the goal. Milan's embarrassment of scoring zero goals in five Champions League games across the season has finally come to an end.
The moment when Leao scored with a barb went viral on social media after the game. It was also the second time he had scored with a barb this season, the last time coming against Roma. But in terms of the stretch and excitement of the posture, the goal in this game is obviously more interesting.
Leao's quick equalizer unloaded the burden on the hearts of the generals, and also made the whole team realize that Grand Paris seems to be fierce and powerful, and there are still weaknesses and cover doors. Hakimi's frequent presses are prone to creating gaps in the ribs and have been exploited by the Milanese on several occasions in the first 12 minutes. Giroud had a shot from almost the same position in the second half, only to find a shot in the side-netting.
Enrique underestimated the tacit understanding and power of the two-Olympic combination, and gave Hakimi the freedom to insert frequently, which kept the right side of the Paris defense under heavy pressure, and Ugarte was forced to become a "backstabber" - in order to prevent Te'o from taking advantage of the large space on the right side of Paris to quickly counterattack, the Uruguayan had to block Milan's attack with black feet during the Special Olympics attack. But Ugarte alone was clearly unable to stop Milan's attack, and Milan created a lot of attacks on the right side of Paris throughout the second half, including substitute Okafor who created two threatening shots in a short period of time.
Olivier Giroud's header over Skriniar's dryland goal was another highlight from his Champions League winning season against Inter. The 37-year-old Giroud is getting stronger and stronger, which has also frustrated Costacuta's previous criticism of his declining scoring ability in athletic battles.
There were plenty of bright spots on the pitch, but Milan's biggest problem was the lack of scoring points. The main players often play lively before finishing the game, but they are never able to get the ball into the back of the net. Milan relied on two of the team's most consistent scoring points: Rafael Leao equalised and Olivier Giroud reversed.
There are surprises in the future, and there are doubts in front of us
Not surprisingly, the photo of Leao's barb goal after the game spread all over the Internet and became a famous scene in Milan's review. Interestingly, Milan Under-19 striker Mamalda also scored a brilliant sideways barb in the UEFA Youth League fixture, which was the first game earlier in the day. The UEFA Youth League game was even more intense – the 2-2 draw lasted until stoppage time before Milan took a set-piece opportunity to complete the winner.
Milan's youth striker Maardo Camarda scored with an Ibrahimovic sideways barb in the UEFA Youth League, and his talent has been in the spotlight again.
After the game, many Milan fans and media held up photos of Camarda and Leao's barbed shots, admiring the brilliant performances of the two talents and providing confidence for the future of the Rossoneri. Some Milan media commented: "In terms of winger technique and inspiration alone, Leo is more versatile and decisive than Vinicius and Rashford." "Compared with the wingers of Real Madrid and Manchester United, Leao can indeed play a decisive role when he is effectively supported by his teammates, but how can he play well? The goal against Paris under pressure proved that Rafael Leao has the core ability to deliver decisive performances in key games, and what Pioli has to do is to take Leao's current limitations to the next level.
The 15-year-old young talent Camalda and Rafael Leao scored spectacular goals on the same day, and it is inevitable to look forward to the future of Milan's legacy. Until then, Pioli will have to address the issues at hand: where to defend and distribute the number of people from set-pieces, and how to spread out more of the scoring points.
Milan, who had 16 shots on goal, missed a number of chances to extend their scores, and Pioli's lack of consistent scoring points was a headache for Pioli.
The former is a tough one for Milan, with Muani's second goal in the first leg against Paris being a 5-metre unguarded vacuum. Skriniar's goal was a similar problem, with Milan's set-piece defence lacking two-point protection and effective marking at key points. Pioli was always beaten and didn't have a long memory, and if there was a problem that could not be solved, it would be difficult for him to continue in Milan for long. Bosses always want to see results when they spend their money, and the team's lack of progress for a long time means regression, and Pioli can't expect to grind out a set of tactics and a lineup, so he lies down and eats his old roots.
The problem of scoring points is more difficult to solve, with Giroud and Leao unable to find suitable replacements for their roles. Outside of the two, Milan's most reliable scorer was Christian Pulisic. Last year, Milan also had the likes of Dias and Tonali who could contribute five goals in a single season, but this year Reinders and Loftus-Cheek have been poor in scoring. Bennacer, who is about to make a comeback, is also an iron tree that has not blossomed for a long time, and Moncada may have to bother to think more about the transfer market.
Against Verona on 5 November, Colombo scored twice to help Monza win 3-1. Compared to the young Camarda, his complement to Milan is more realistic.
Alberto Cerutti, a journalist for Sport Milan, said that Milan were on the lookout for horses on donkeys: "Colombo should be an option. "Milan's young centre-forward, who has scored three goals and provided one assist in nine appearances at Monza this season, is more than capable of playing the role of Milan's centre-forward rotation. At least from the perspective of the opponents, Milan should focus on cultivating their own youth products, and their ability and potential are more stable than Jovic, Milan should focus on cultivating their own youth products, and their abilities and potentials are more stable.
Of course, these are all later words, at least in the final two rounds of the Champions League group stage, Pioli can only hope that more players in the team will step up at key moments. After winning this game, the initiative has returned to the Milanese themselves. The Milanese, who have broken their demons, may really be able to put on an eye-catching drama at the last minute, creating another good story in the history of the Champions League that they were winless in the first three rounds but finally qualified. After all, who can say for sure what is happening on the field?