So near to the perfect smash and grab: Tactical analysis of AC Milan 1-1 Inter | OneFootball

AC Milan were just a couple of minutes away from securing their third derby win in a row over Inter, but an added time equaliser halted any planned celebrations.

Milan went into half-time a goal ahead thanks to Tijjani Reijnders. The Dutchman ran onto a loose ball deep inside the box and fired into the roof of the net after Yann Sommer had parried Rafael Leao’s cross/shot.

The Rossoneri managed to hold it for a long time despite wave after wave of pressure from Inter but in the 93rd minute, the Nerazzurri did get the equalising goal. Stefan De Vrij fired in from close range after a cross was chested down to him around six yards out, and that would be the way that the score ended.

Given the chaos that deadline day brought we decided to release the derby analysis as a bit of a preview to the Roma game, with Rohit Rajeev‘s work below.

Defensive shape and counter-punch

Milan initially started out with zonal marking and a 4-3-3 system, not falling for Inter’s baiting and choosing to play a mid-block to remain compact.

A big part of Milan’s defensive approach was the offside trap. Despite not having played together as a four, it was executed brilliantly by Kyle Walker, Fikayo Tomori, Strahinja Pavlovic and Theo Hernandez. Inter scored three goals which were rightly chalked off for clear offsides.

Once again the prime rule of Gegenpressing came into play in the Reijnders goal. The best time to score a goal is eight seconds after winning the ball back and this rule was observed in the goal.

The Rossoneri did not score in eight but in 11 second, and despite Leao’s wayward cross/shot, Inter still didn’t have the players back enough to prevent the Reijnders from following up.

Alterations

Once Milan scored the goal, Conceicao brought on Alex Jimenez for Ismael Bennacer as he wanted to protect the middle third of the pitch as Bennacer did not have the legs to provide the cover quite as much as Jimenez could. Milan changed their formation to a 5-3-2 off the ball.

Milan would often narrow themselves down to to the wide areas and them switch the play over to Theo Hernandez who with his pace was given the freedom by Conceicao to drive forward and catch Inter in their defensive transition.

Conceicao then brought on Filippo Terracciano for Yunus Musah to protect the centre of the pitch and also the Italian is a bit taller than the American, giving Milan that extra bit in defending the box from crosses. He allowed Milan to prevent overloads in midfield with Inter pushing men up to force an equaliser.

Where the game changed

Now here is where the match turned. Was Jimenez wrong to not start a counter-attack? Yes. But it doesn’t end there. The situation was still players but here Walker makes the mistake and passes it to Terracciano who is already marked by two people.

For me Conceicao also cannot be guilt-free. You can see in this situation Chukwueze has the ball but he has no one to cross or pass to, nor would he attempt to beat the double team.

Taking Rafael Leao off even though he was having a poor game allowed Inter to push all their men forward because they did not have to deal with the pace of the winger in counter-attacks. Simply put, there was no more outlet, though it has since emerged that Leao is not close to 100%.

Compared to the Supercoppa Italiana, Milan played a much deeper line even in the first half when the score was level.

What can we take from it all? Milan’s performances against their city rivals seem to be getting more and more streetwise. Gone are the days under Stefano Pioli when they would be baited by Inter and then hammered in transition, but it has perhaps come at the expense of some attacking threat.