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Massimiliano Allegri will once again rely on his three chosen centre-backs, in the hopes of keeping Inter’s fierce attack at bay.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) break down Milan’s trio of central defenders. The aggressive: Fikayo Tomori. The wise: Matteo Gabbia. The tough: Strahinja Pavlovic. No longer are they competing for two spots: now they can co-exist, and it seems to have brought the best out of each.
The wall raised
When they all stick together, they work. Milan’s starting defence has been the protagonist of some of the best defensive games: the 0-0 draw in Turin against Juve, the 1-0 against Bologna, the 2-1 against Napoli.
When they split, Allegri’s team trembled. Against Roma, with Koni De Winter replacing Tomori, everything went well, whether due to skill or incidents. Against Pisa and especially in Parma, much less so: four goals conceded in two games, and it could have been more.
Get your calculator. In the minutes with Tomori, Gabbia and Pavlovic on the pitch together, Milan have conceded five goals in 711 minutes across the league and the Coppa Italia, which averages out at one every 142 minutes.
Only Arsenal (one goal every 306 minutes, according to StatsPerform data), Como (167), and Roma (150) performed better. In the minutes in which Allegri coached a different trio, the averages changed: one every 115 minutes. There is a difference.
Why does it work?
Mainly because Tomori, Gabbia, and Pavlovic have complementary characteristics. Tomori and Pavlovic, as central defenders in a back four, had disasters more than once due to errors in positioning and reading of the game.
As outside centre-backs, their best qualities – aggression for Tomori, physicality and recovery speed for Pavlovic – can come out, without paying for every mistake.
Look at Pavlovic when he ventures out with the ball: he knows he can do it because he has Gabbia behind him and a team around him that protects him.
Luka Modric also plays a role too. Defensively, he’s no Makelele but he always knows when to raise or drop the tempo. With him, the team doesn’t break down when they lose the ball, as they did before.
Toughest test yet
Inter are the ultimate crash test. Pavlovic arrived in the summer of 2024 and has only good memories of the derby, but for Tomori and Gabbia, things are different.
They have before their eyes the storms of matches with Pioli on the bench, when Inzaghi’s Inter scored often, willingly, and in recurring ways: in transition, from corners, through midfielders.
Inter are the biggest obstacle you can find in Serie A right now. This season, they’ve scored in every game: 11 in the league and four in the Champions League. Unique in Italy.
They have two top-class strikers: Lautaro and Thuram. Two substitutions that bring energy: Bonny and Pio. A wing-back who is dangerous for the others and on his own: Dimarco. On the other side, Dumfries (if fit).
Then there are the three midfielders Calhanoglu, Barella and perhaps Sucic who all give their contribution. Maignan will watch everyone from behind, as always. If something goes wrong, rest assured, he’ll let his defence know.
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