After ninety minutes in which little was seen, anything goes in recovery. Match point wasted by Roma, Milan hurt.
– Up until the 94th minute we would have written that it was the fear of losing that won. Two blocked teams, without any offensive solution that totally relied on their individualities to try to do something. Zero shots on target until recovery. Then those three minutes of madness, in which Rome has objectively thrown away the opportunity of a lifetime. Bringing home just one draw after taking the lead in added time is a cardinal sin;
– Mourinho has made a virtue of necessity. Probably the script of the match would not have changed even if Smalling, Llorente, Wijnaldum and Dybala had been on the pitch but the 11 who took the field this afternoon were the perfect interpreters for the match that Mou had in mind. Matic and Cristante acting as a breakwater, Celik on the right and not Zalewsky to try to contain Leao and Theo Hernandez. There weren’t the conditions for the Giallorossi to become masters of the pitch tonight and they rightly confined themselves to doing what they do best: defending, restarting when possible and exploiting episodes from a standstill. Thus the goal arrived: distraction of the Milan supporter, rapid transition and Abraham to put Maignan on. The goal conceded in the 97th minute, however, is a serious naivety. Not from Mourinho’s team;
– Milan did not arrive badly at the Olimpico appointment. Pioli is no longer able to do without the men who have given him so much satisfaction in the Champions League lately and also the tactical tasks assigned to his are identical: Bennacer on the play (in this case Matic), Leao to lend the line with Diaz more central to embroider between the departments. However, facing Roma is not the same as facing Napoli, who makes phrasing and domination of the game his mantras. Against a closed team like Mourinho’s, a more unscrupulous and less attentive formation in the containment phase should probably have been fielded, especially considering the sterility of the Giallorossi attack. Many harmless crosses in the center to enhance the qualities of the Giallorossi defenders and little quality in general. Badly prepared match, badly managed but all in all finished well;
– In Milan the most awaited players have disappointed, those who have been dragging the team lately. Theo Hernandez, for example, seems to need a breather, as well as the time seems to have come to let Krunic and Calabria rest. Poor Giroud, on his side, is doing his best but he’s been playing injured for a month now. The Rossoneri’s great merit was that they made up for a game that was now lost. “The point that nobody needs” Stefano Pioli will say in the conference, well aware, however, that Saelemaekers’ goal is worth much more than a draw. If Milan had lost tonight, they would have been a foot and a half outside the next Champions LeagueIstanbul permitting;
– After this 1-1 the fight to access the next Champions League remains very uncertain. The two contenders tonight seem not to have done
so bad but, given the amount of injuries, Roma are the ones that seem to come out worse. Paulo Dybala’s return will tip the scales. Lazio, on their side, could have the definitive match point tomorrow and Inter, with a victory, could fully return to the race. Who seems to be better off for this weekend is Juventus, a guest in Bologna. Attention also to Atalanta who, by winning in Turin, could reopen any discussion, putting further anxiety on the most famous competitors.
The article Scattered considerations after Roma-Milan (1-1) comes from Sportellate.it.