GdS: The one-two punch and a grand welcome – how Milan overpowered Roma

SempreMilan

·6 de febrero de 2025

GdS: The one-two punch and a grand welcome – how Milan overpowered Roma

AC Milan beat Roma 3-1 at San Siro to reach the Coppa Italia semi-finals, and it was thanks to a mix of ‘old’ and ‘new’ that they got over the line.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) report this morning, it’s what happened less than a quarter of an hour after the entry of Joao Felix and Santiago Gimenez that will stick in the heads of most fans leaving the stadiums.

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However, the start was one to remember: two goals from Tammy Abraham put the Rossoneri in a good position, and the feeling is that there is suddenly competition is the attacking department which can only be a good thing.

Milan wanted it more

Milan showed that they wanted to get the job done quickly from the first minute, while Roma sat in their own half of the pitch with a static 3-5-2, especially in the midfield which suffered from the pace of their opponents.

On one side, Youssouf Fofana directed the traffic and on either side of him Yunus Musah and Tijjani Reijnders attack exchanged positions to move the ball quickly and vertically. On the other side, Pisilli got forward but Paredes and Koné looked to struggle with their defensive duties.

What kept Roma pushing was Angelino’s driving runs down the left side, while Dybala moved a lot in search of the ball: when he does it so frequently, as he sometimes did in Juve, it means that he didn’t receive it as he would like. But it’s not enough.

Abraham’s one-two punch

Milan were not beautiful, but more clinical and concentrated. Conceiçao chooses an anomalous trident: Pulisic as always on the left, on the other side Alex Jimenez ran like a possessed man, causing chaos as he wove between the lined.

There was no doubt that the goal would arrive sooner or later, then Abraham took advantage of Ndicka’s non-exemplary marking and scored with a header from Theo’s cross. Svilar wasn’t blameless either as he stood and watched the ball nestle in.

The message is clear: ‘Welcome Santiago Gimenez, but I’m here too’. Then came the second goal, which Abraham blasted past Svilar to cap off a brilliant move started by Theo, but the huge space the Englishman found himself in was staggering.

Ranieri responds

The strange thing is that Roma, despite being defensive, managed to create some problems for the Rossoneri. Pisilli hit the crossbar, Tomori and Pavlovic worked overtime and could be the best ‘acquisitions’ of the Conceiçao era.

Ranieri did not give up, while towards the end of the first half, Saelemaekers joined Dybala, switching to a sort of 4-3-2-1. Then Roma revolutionised in the second half, switching to 4-4-2 with Pellegrini on the side, Dybala and Dovbyk in the middle, the Pisilli-Koné pair in midfield.

Out went Paredes and, less deservedly, Shomurodov who had fought and created, drawing a flapped save from Maignan. The move seems right, suddenly the balance shifts towards Milan’s area and Dovbyk reopens the match by anticipating Maignan in front of goal.

Conceicao’s answer

Milan In today’s football, 2-1 guarantees nothing. So Conceiçao, like Ranieri, immediately decided on radical interventions: off came Abraham, whose look of disappointment said everything, and Pulisic who needed the rest.

Gimenez and Joao Felix came on with Milan finally using a 4-4-2 while winning. The feeling is that the 4-2-4 that is dreamed of – with Pulisic, Felix, Gimenez, Leao – is difficult to sustain from a balance perspective, but at least three interpreters could coexist in the new Milan, rotating with the turnover.

The fourth will be a Musah-type balancer, who, not surprisingly, was moved from midfielder to wing yesterday. With the new formula Milan regains control.

A grand welcome

Gimenez is a centre-forward who is not limited to the area, but creates a shock wave in the midfield, looking for link-ups, all with an eye on getting through to goal but without being guilty of selfishness.

Joao Felix is more mobile than Leao, and tactically had more of a free role. He moves from the wing to the centre naturally, he has the instinct to score goals despite his ‘creator’ position, perhaps because he suffers from the €120m price tag that Atletico Madrid paid to sign him.

The goal resulting from their combination sends San Siro into a frenzy: it won’t always be so easy, but the solutions increase. And, thinking about the Champions League, having taken Gimenez away from Feyenoord is a half-insurance of success. It may be that Joao Felix gives Leao a shock too.