AC Milan’s success in defeating Benevento on Sunday with a score of 2-0, confirmed the position of Stefano Pioli’s men as leaders of the Serie A standings. It was doubtful that they would appear consistent when two of their senior players, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Simon Kjær, were left due to injury. AC Milan was still able to maintain its Capolista status until the 15th week with 37 points without even losing. In fact, Il Rossoneri is the only team that still has unbeaten status in Europe’s top 5 leagues this season.
In fact, the smell of signs of AC Milan’s resurrection has been smelled since the competition started again after the break due to the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-June. They managed to close the last 12 Serie A matches last season with 9 wins, 3 draws and no defeat.
AC Milan is not without its problems. The position of the coach, Stefano Pioli, was rumored to be replaced by the German coach, Ralf Ragnick. However, AC Milan’s improved performance made management retain the coach.
What’s more, Pioli is a shrewd coach. He is an expert at maximizing his quota of five player substitutions in one match. Since the imposition of an additional maximum number of substitutions to 5 times, AC Milan has become the team with the highest points collection in Serie A with 67 points from 27 matches, followed by Inter Milan and AS Roma who each have 61 points and 55 points in the same number of matches. .
While the defending champions, Juventus are only in sixth place with a collection of 47 points from 26 matches. In addition, Pioli is also reluctant to change players. He prefers to maintain the best composition, except when there are players absent. Since managing AC Milan in the second half of last season, Pioli has rarely changed formations. He chose to use the 4-2-3-1 pattern.
The position of goalkeeper is filled by the best young goalkeeper at the moment, Gianluigi Donnarumma. In front of Donnarumma there are four solid defenders, namely the central defender duo Alessio Romagnoli and Simon Kjær, and Theo Hernandez and Davide Calabria who fill the left and right positions. Meanwhile, the pairing of Ismael Bennacer and Franck Kessie in defensive midfield gave the team stability both in defense and attack. There is also the name Sandro Tonali who can replace one of the two Rossoneri double pivots when needed.
On both wings there are two talented young players, Alexis Saelemaekers and Ante Rebic. At number 10, there is Hakan Calhanoglu who has returned to his original place. He served as an attack manager and provided spoiled passes for the attackers.
On the front lines there is Zlatan Ibrahimovic. This Swedish star is a frightening specter for opponents. When Ibrahimovic is absent, the front line posts can be replaced by Rafael Leao or Rebic.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is sensational. His return to the San Siro has been pointed out as one of the reasons AC Milan can perform so well. At the age of 39, Zlatan was able to score 10 goals in only 6 matches in the Serie A event while competing with superstar players Cristiano Ronaldo and Romelu Lukaku in the hunt for the top scorer in Serie A this season.
Ibrahimovic’s charm does not only apply on the pitch. Outside the field, Zlatan also showed his human side. For example, when he gave gifts in the form of PS 5 for all team members to enjoy free time by cycling with other players. These methods may seem trivial, but can have a big effect on team solidity. Zlatan not only played a role as a player in attack, but also became a leader.
Exploring the Resurrection of AC Milan on and Off the Field
In terms of player transfers, AC Milan is also smarter. They don’t bring in big-name players which of course will make them spend more. Their largest expenditure was only 173 billion Rupiah as borrowing costs for Sandro Tonali. Although later they will have to spend more to buy Tonali from Brescia.
The rest, Milan managed to permanent Ante Rebic, Alexis Saelemaekers to Simon Kjær at a cost that did not reach € 5 million each. Then recruiting players in the middle of nowhere like Jens Petter Hauge for € 5m who in a short time could be relied on as a coating on the left side of the attack to bring in a versatile young defender in Pierre Kalulu worth € 0.48 million.
In addition to recruiting the right players, AC Milan has also managed to release several high-paying players that are not needed by the team such as Andre Silva, Suso, Ricardo Rodriguez, Giacomo Bonaventura to Lucas Biglia who saved the club’s salary budget of up to € 12.6 million.
Currently, the Milan duo still control the top flight. Until week 15, AC Milan has 37 points and Inter trailing behind with 36 points. In third place is AS Roma who has 30 points. Juventus, the champions of last season, are in fifth place with 27 points, provided they still have one match against Napoli.
Even though they are still in the top five, Juventus is not as bad as previous seasons. The decline in Juventus’ performance is a breath of fresh air for other Serie A clubs, one of which is AC Milan. At least they are still 9 points away from Juventus.
Not only Juventus, other Serie A clubs are also experiencing the same problem. Atalanta and Lazio, who play in the Champions League this season, are currently knocked out of the top five positions. Both have had consistency problems, especially when they have to divide the focus of playing in the Champions League and Serie A.
This Serie A season is not over yet. There are still more than 20 giornata and any situation can happen. However, AC Milan has the advantage of being able to win the 2020/2021 Serie A title.
ASL
