The away bug turned over in the New Year, and the Milan youth army has just grown up?

With a big away win over Empoli, Milan finally ended the embarrassment of a four-game winless away game.

祸兮福所倚,福兮祸所伏。

The Africa Cup of Nations is coming, the winter break is gone, and the already thin squad of Milan is missing Bennacer, who has just recovered from a serious injury, and the role substitute Chukwueze, and they have to face a series of double matches in a week, which is obviously not something to celebrate. But for Pioli, the unfavorable objective conditions forced him to clean up his mentality and seek stability, no longer obsessed with the attack-oriented European style of play, based on the victory itself, and turned difficulties into blessings. What's even more gratifying is that the established policy of promoting the youth army to become talents has repeatedly seen sweetness, so that Milan has enough motivation to continue this idea of employing people. The first signing of the winter window is nearing completion, and Terracciano finally selected Milan in the midst of a lot of big clubs, which is somewhat related to the Red and Black's efforts to cultivate young people in recent years.

Ending the away 4-round winless run, Milan is bloodless

With Bennacer playing in the Africa Cup of Nations, Adley, who replaced him in this game, was the only change in the regular starting line-up.

Playing Empoli, against Milan is the planned 3 points. Stefano Pioli needs a win to stop the media hype about the change of manager, and the team also needs a win to reverse the embarrassing record of four games without a win (three draws, one defeat) on the road and retain the top three spots in the table. At this point in the season, Milan already knows the league situation: whether they can compete for the championship depends on the faces of others, and keeping the top four is the goal they can grasp. Milan's last winless run on the road was in 2017 when Montella led the side, and Pioli will not have a good time if he is closing on this lower limit.

What's more, Empoli is a notoriously soft persimmon, scoring only 5 goals and 5 points at home so far, both of which are the worst in Serie A. Facing such an opponent in the first game of the New Year's league is a matter of course for Stefano Pioli, but any accident will be criticised by the outside world.

The more you can't afford to make a mistake, the more you need to be cautious. Stefano Pioli was in a decent line-up, with the exception of Adli who started to replace Bennacer in the No. 6 position, and the remaining 10 Milan players were regular starters. Jovic, who had been heavily vocal about starting the game due to his recent excellent form, was still on the bench, and Pioli was clearly hoping to establish an early advantage with the strongest squad and avoid any surprises.

Loftus-Cheek's effortless goal in the opening stages opened the door for Milan to victory.

Milan got off to a good start, beating Empoli down the right in the 11th minute. In response to Empoli's 4312, Milan had a clear advantage on the wing, and Leao faced Ebouehi's opposition defense as if he was in a no-man's land, shaking off the opponent's low ball cross to help Loftus-Cheek easily complete the goal. It was also the first time since Hartley and Wilkins in 1985-86 that two English players had both scored at least two goals in a single season (Loftus-Cheek, Fikayo Tomori). The trend of British power returning to Serie A has surged back in Milan after 38 years.

Grabbing the start allowed Milan to stabilize their position and confidence, and Te'o became the biggest beneficiary. Seeing that the team is in good shape, Te'o can concentrate on his job as a central defender and no longer have to be distracted by being a front-court attacking reinforcement. Kjaer had previously said in an interview with the media that Te'o's overzealous approach to insertion was not in line with the duty of a central defender: "I kept reminding him: 'Stay here, don't run forward'! Te'o is a player who plays on instinct, this is his specialty. But in the centre-back position, you have to be right. Given Kjaer's point and the fact that the team didn't need his help in attack, Te'o played his most solid game at centre-back. The Frenchman won six successful aerial duels and five clearances, and on a number of occasions he was in good position to stop his opponent's attack, showing good positional sense. After the game, Milan fans put the image of Special Olympics on Paolo Maldini's photo, jokingly saying that "Te'o already has the potential to succeed Paul".

After Calabria went off the pitch, Te'o wore the captain's armband. The Frenchman was solid as a centre-back, and was praised by public opinion as another excellent captain from left-back to centre-back in Milan after Paolo Maldini.

Te'o's growing adaptation at centre-back allowed Stefano Pioli to solve the defensive crisis, and Loftus-Cheek began to find his form in attack, giving the boss another output in the attacking line. Loftus-Cheek's 30th-minute penalty was an inadvertent effort, but his involvement in the attack was huge, and it was clearly a good thing for Milan to improve their midfield. The direct beneficiary of this attack was Olivier Giroud. With this penalty, the No.9 Milan scored double figures in all lines this season, and his output of 10 goals and six assists is the most reliable in the team, which can be called Milan's most reliable attacking point. The biggest concern for Milan fans at the moment has shifted from who will bring in reinforcements in the winter window to who will succeed Olivier Giroud in the summer. It's no secret that the French are drawn to the MLS professional scene, and if he leaves in the summer, who will replace him in Milan's attack?

A dream week for the Youth Army

With a two-goal lead in half an hour, and the opponent's attack power was extremely lacking, the remaining hour was actually a stage for Milan to test themselves - as long as Milan did not make a moth on their own, it was difficult for Empoli to take the initiative. But no one expected that Milan's youth army would take over the competition afterwards.

Jimenez, who made his Coppa Italia debut, had another consistent performance in the league. Milan are ready to exercise the buyout right to complete his transfer.

In the Coppa Italia in midweek, although Chaka Traore scored his maiden goal for Milan, Jimenez, who replaced left wing-back, was the most dazzling youth team. The latter can play very steadily on the side, and is highly praised by the industry and public opinion after the game. In the 35th minute of this game, Florenzi unexpectedly retired due to injury, giving Jimenez another opportunity to play in Serie A. The youngster did not have any stage fright after his debut, and the rush from the back was full of confidence, just like the heroic posture of his fellow brother Special Olympics. After the game, a reporter jokingly asked Special Olympics: "Seeing Jimenez's performance, can you call him 'Little Special Olympics'?" "Will the amazing scene of Te'o be replicated in Jimenez?

Jimenez continued to be consistent, while Chaka Traore was another surprise. A late goal didn't mean much to the victory, and it was a perfect end to a truly fantastic week for Chaka. Although the goal was not difficult, Chaka stopped the ball and shot into the bottom corner during the run, and the movement was extremely smooth, avoiding the blocking of the opposing defenders, but still showed his keen observation and good basic skills.

Chaka hugged and cheered with the youngsters after his goal. Milan's youth team has had a fantastic past week and makes for a lot of excitement for what the future holds.

In the last game of Ibrahimovic's absence, Rafael Leao scored from distance in the last minute to present his seniors, and as a manager, Ibrahimovic was in charge of the game, and Traore welcomed his seniors back with a brilliant goal in the bottom corner. One or two highlights don't mean that Milan's youth team has fully matured, but the ability of Traore to show excellent adaptability to the professional scene under the watchful eye of the leaders will be somewhat reassuring to the management and fans.

With 39 points at the halfway point and nine points behind the top of the table (38 points in the same period of the 22-23 season, a goal difference of 35:24 and a goal difference of 11, 12 points behind the top of the table), Milan's season situation is better than last year.

Finishing the halfway course with a bloodless victory, and seeing the reserves ready to go, Milan had a rewarding week. Even in terms of results, compared with the same period last year, the Rossoneri, who recorded 39 points, scored 1 point more, conceded 4 fewer goals, and the overall performance did not fall but improved. Interestingly, Milan's first Serie A win at the beginning of last year was also an early away game, and they also hosted Roma in the second round. Last year, Milan's inexplicable low tide in January began with a draw at home by Roma. Pioli, who has suffered a loss once, won't step into the same metaphysical river again, right?