1 week ago
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The draw against Roma didn’t shake AC Milan’s confidence, and they still fully believe in the Scudetto mission.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) write this morning, the day after the 1-1 draw at the Stadio Olimpico there’s still bitterness from a match that, given how it unfolded, could and should have been won.
Without the penalty awarded for Davide Bartesaghi’s handball, Allegri and his men are convinced the Giallorossi wouldn’t have scored. Luka Modric said so in the heat of the moment in his post-match comments, and the former Ballon d’Or’s analysis is shared by the dressing room.
Despite being five points behind Inter, that dressing room isn’t exhausted. The coach’s line is ‘the objective is a place in next season’s Champions League’, but it’s hard to imagine players accustomed to winning like Modric, Adrien Rabiot and the others would be entirely satisfied with that.
The key remains to get as many points as possible and, if Inter slows down, be ready for anything. The only way to achieve this, however, is to fix the things that aren’t working right now and that have slowed Milan’s pace.
They’re coming off a run of 21 unbeaten games in a row, but have been held to three draws in the last five matches. That is too many to dream of a second star, but with 16 games to play, no one is throwing in the towel.
Goals needed
In 2026, Milan have played six competitive matches so far, all in the league. Only once, away to Como, did they score more than one goal. Goals from Rafael Leao and Niclas Füllkrug were enough to secure the three points against Cagliari and Lecce, respectively.
These two narrow victories, combined with the 3-1 win by the lake, keep Mike Maignan and his team-mates in second place. Against Genoa, Fiorentina and Roma however, one goal wasn’t enough to defeat their opponents.
Indeed, against La Viola and the Giallorossi, they conceded more shots on target than they attempted. The feeling is that, while not abandoning the 3-5-2 formation and using the back four (plus the attacking trio) only as weapons during the match, Max will try to squeeze more from the attack.
The task will be easier once Leao overcomes his lower back pain (he’s clearly slowing down now) and when Pulisic returns to his former self. The American is without a goal in 2026, an anomaly for someone with his scoring rate. Nkunku and Füllkrug have shown signs, but more is needed.
Clean sheets and errors
Milan must score more, but let in less too. In 2026, Maignan’s goal has remained unbreached only twice, despite Koni De Winter responding with good performances when replacing the starters.
Allegri had already raised alarm bells after the Supercoppa Italiana semi-final loss against Napoli, but the 180 minutes of goalless containment against Verona and Cagliari at the turn of the year remained two isolated incidents.
In the five subsequent matches, errors committed cost crucial goals and missed victories. It’s difficult for Allegri to stomach these. He knows that his Milan team have the third-best defence in the league after Roma and Como, which is a positive.
However, expanding the picture a bit, Allegri also knows that his team scores far fewer goals than Inter, so they must be near-perfect at the back. This hasn’t been the case lately.
Call for leaders
Then there’s the recovery of those players who aren’t currently at their best. We’ve already mentioned Leao and Pulisic, while in midfield, Youssous Fofana and Ruben Loftus-Cheek – both of whom have been relegated to the bench – need to return to top form.
The Frenchman and the Englishman are in decline in terms of form, and Samuele Ricci has done well to make their absence less noticeable by adapting well to the right mezzala role, getting the start at the Olimpico.
Fofana and RLC’s physicality can be useful in turning games around late on, so that’s why over the next two and a half weeks, with only one match (the away match in Bologna), training work must be focused on improving the condition of the two midfielders and the others who aren’t at their best.
For the final sprint, everyone will be needed, and even though Milan have fewer matches than Inter who are in the race for the Coppa Italia and the Champions League. The margin for error will be slim though, it always it.
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