Milan grabs a point in the 92nd minute (1-1 the final) just as Udinese was already savoring the taste of success against the leaders. It is again Ibrahimovic who takes the chestnuts from the fire to the Rossoneri, who appeared convoluted, slow and not very concrete. The weight of the attack rests only on the Swede who, a few moments from the end, found a paw that silenced a Dacia Arena now ready to explode with joy. Cioffi made an excellent debut on the bench even if, in the final recovery, he paid for his inexperience, not taking advantage of the third and final slot for substitutions that could have interrupted Milan’s desperate forcing.
We start with Udinese that changes everything in the technical guide so as not to change anything on the pitch: the newcomer Cioffi proposes the most classic of the 3-5-2, focusing on physical ardor and on a proactive mentality that makes you forget the staid formation and compliant of the last few weeks. Pioli instead rests Kessie and Tonali and raises Bennacer and Bakayoko, but the move, in the first half, is suicidal. The couple fails to filter and the hosts immediately press the accelerator with the former Deulofeu, literally impregnable. Udinese deservedly took the lead after 17 minutes: Bennacer loses a bloody ball in midfield and a highway opens up for Beto. The Portuguese center-forward shoots on Magnain on exit, but the favorable rebound and an awkward intervention by Tomori give him a second chance that the number 9 unloads under the crossbar. Milan are opaque and the maneuver is too slow to worry the Juventus rearguard. So two inventions by Ibrahimovic are needed to create as many good opportunities for the draw on the sunset of the first half: on the first the Swede frees Diaz in the small area, but the conclusion is on the side; on the second, the side of the center forward is used to put Theo Hernandez face to face with Silvestri, who bags easily, but the Frenchman is offside slightly and the Var confirms the call of the assistant.
Pioli leaves the unwatchable Bennacer and Bakayoko (for Tonali and Kessié) in the locker room and also throws Messias for Krunic into the fray. After 40 “the Rossoneri have the ball of 1-1: the Juventus defense is smooth and Ibra shoots from the line of the small area, but the broadside is high. Cioffi throws Jajalo and Success for Arslan and Deulofeu into the fray, also trying in the throw-in, with Molina finishing a good offensive plot high in the half hour. There is always a hand from Ibra when dangers arrive from Silvestri’s parts: with his head he avoids the ball ending up on the bottom and almost the decisive scrum comes out for an equal. In the final assault the balls arrive from all over the Friuli area, but the right touch is always missing. For that, you need the clarity and physical strength of the Swedish immortal, the third, after Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to having reached 300 goals, in the 2000s, in the main five European leagues.