AC Milan 2-2 Torino: Five things we learned – familiar flaws and substitute salvation | OneFootball

The 2024-25 season finally got underway on Saturday night, and there was a lot of intrigue to see how AC Milan kicked things off given the positive preseason under Paulo Fonseca.

New signings Alvaro Morata and Strahinja Pavlovic were on the bench along with Theo Hernandez and Tijjani Reijnders as the four were not yet at 100% having joined preseason late, while Milan in turn were late in getting going.

San Siro was stunned into silence firstly by a Malick Thiaw own-goal after he didn’t quite manage to scramble a ball clear off the line, and then Duvan Zapata was left wide open from a cross to head in a second.

However, Milan roared back thanks to goals from two substitutes inside the final 10 minutes. Alvaro Morata redirected a shot from Tijjani Reijnders to wake up the over 70,000 fans present, then Noah Okafor volleyed in to equalise in the 95th minute.

It was a rollercoaster of emotion in Foncesa’s competitive debut, and below are five things we learned from the game…

1. Same old woes

Regardless of the coach that came in, one of the main areas to fix in this Milan squad was the defensive department, as highlighted last season in the 69 goals conceded across all competitions.

Unfortunately this season hasn’t started much better. To their credit, Torino moved the ball very well on the first goal but when it came into the box it was pure marking and positioning that ended up helping the away side get the opener.

On the second goal it was amateur defending with both Thiaw and Theo Hernandez having a misunderstanding that meant Zapata had all the time and space in the world to head the ball into the back of the net.

Admittedly, Theo did not start the game and is not fully fit yet and we will most likely see a lot of Emerson Royal, Pavlovic and Youssouf Fofana in the midfield who might help stabilise the situation.

Time will tell if the new additions will bring that stability and if Fonseca can bring some new ideas to the table but it’s the number one problem to solve for him right now.

2. Magic from Mike

The result might not have ended 2-2 if it weren’t for Mike Maignan, who made two great saves in the first half to prevent an even bigger deficit needing to be overhauled.

His contribution went beyond just shot-stopping as he showed off great composure leaving his box in the dying minutes of the game to help his team transition faster. If he had got it wrong, the game would have been over.

The performance earned him the MOTM in our post-game ratings and among the starters he was the only real candidate. The Frenchman started 2024-25 by proving why the management should do everything in their power to extend his contract.

3. Failing to lead, again

Rafael Leao has struggled to take his game to the next level following the Scudetto season a few years back when he was the MVP. At the beginning of every season since Milan fans have been hoping this is the year he makes that leap but have been rather disappointed thus far.

Just like fixing the defence, one of the main objectives for Fonseca is to get Leao to fire on all cylinders and let’s just say the start wasn’t as good as fans would’ve hoped, at least in terms of the end product.

He did cause quite a few headaches for Torino and was the most dynamic of the starting front four, yet the Portuguese winger missed a wonderful chance to get the equaliser in the first half but failed to score in a 1v1 situation.

The ex-Lille man then had another chance after a lovely ball from Reijnders but his ball control really let him down which pretty much summarised the night for him. He will need to shake off this performance quickly and react fast, or else the scrutiny will be dialled up again.

4. ‘Dream attack’ blunted

Whilst Leao failed to impress he certainly was not worse than his other team-mates in attack, namely Luka Jovic, Christian Pulisic and Samuel Chukwueze who were the striker, playmaker and right winger respectively.

The Nigerian failed to bring the positives from pre-season to the table and looked out of ideas, failing to beat his man and misplacing several passes. It was a poor performance which needs to be forgotten if he doesn’t want a repeat of last season.

Pulisic also didn’t really manage to anchor himself into the game in that No.10 position but he did have good moments in transition. The issue for him was the final pass or the shot which prevented him from opening his account, though he was certainly not the worst performer.

Jovic also failed to grab the chance he was given as he looked slow and didn’t really get the ball that often. Poor service didn’t help his case either but it was a really forgettable performance by the Serb, who then had to watch Morata and Okafor score off the bench.

5. Subs save the day

Despite the poor performance and the two-goal deficit, Milan did managed to awake from their sleep and steal a point off Torino and Fonseca should be given some of the credit as his subs really rejuvenated the team.

The coach is still working on chemistry, and with new arrivals and late returning internationals it was never going to be easy right off the bat. However, bringing on Morata and Reijnders really changed things up as Milan started to have more of the ball and play closer to Torino’s penalty area.

In the end the Spaniard got his goal just in time to give hope with an instinctive finish. Then, Okafor and Yunus Musah combined for a great goal to equalise after Milan had been probing in and around the Granata box.

There’s obviously a lot of work to be done, but as we highlight the negatives we must also look at the positives, hoping that against Parma next weekend the team are fitter and more cohesive.