AC Milan produced a woeful performance in our 1-0 defeat to Atalanta at San Siro on Sunday night.
After a first half lacking any quality, intensity or tempo, there was a brief improvement from the Rossoneri after the break, but Ederson struck for the visitors just after the hour mark to secure all three points.
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While it was an entirely forgettable night at San Siro, it remains a damaging result in terms of our diminishing hopes of qualifying for the Champions League, and perhaps for Europe at all next season.
Our focus will now switch to the Coppa Italia, and Sergio Conceicao and the players must produce a response in midweek otherwise our hopes of lifting more silverware this year could quickly dissipate too.
AC Milan player ratings vs Atalanta:
Mike Maignan, 6 – Made a good save to prevent Atalanta doubling their lead in the latter stages, but will be disappointed having got a hand to Ederson’s header that he couldn’t keep it out. That said, was left exposed by his defence for the goal.
Fikayo Tomori, 6 – Decent shift as he looks comfortable in the back-three system, as he did relatively well in a difficult assignment going up against Lookman.
Matteo Gabbia, 6 – Marshalled the backline well, limiting the threat of Retegui through the middle. Similarly to Tomori, looks effective in a back three.
Strahinja Pavlovic, 5.5 – Was performing well for the most part but was at fault in the lead up to Atalanta’s goal with his poor positioning, and that ultimately proved to be a decisive moment in the encounter.
Alex Jimenez, 5.5 – Worked hard throughout in both phases, but didn’t add any quality to our play down the right side and that contributed to our poor attacking display.
Youssouf Fofana, 6.5 – Was the only player looking to drive forward with purpose and intent, and although he wasn’t able to get his final pass right, he comes away with credit having at least played with the urgency and intensity needed.
Tijjani Reinjders, 5.5 – Atalanta did well to limit his influence on the game, and coupled with a lack of quality around him, it was a disappointing night for the Dutchman.
Theo Hernandez, 5 – Didn’t do enough in possession to give us a consistent threat down the left flank, and he was caught out at the back post in the build-up to the only goal of the game as his defensive work raises question marks again.
Christian Pulisic, 5 – Worked tirelessly out of possession to apply pressure on Atalanta in their defensive third, but he offered little to nothing in the way of an attacking threat as we struggled to create any notable openings.
Luka Jovic, 5.5 – Had a difficult task given he was so isolated up top, but his hold-up play and ability to link things together wasn’t always great either. Continued to provide movement up front though to give us some sort of presence.
Rafael Leao, 5 – Milan always seem to need more from him and he struggles to step up and deliver consistently. Couldn’t add quality or a cutting edge to our play in the final third, and when he’s not able to make the difference, it usually doesn’t end very well for us.
Substitutes:
Joao Felix, 5 – Showed glimpses of quality and good touch at times, but nowhere near enough quality or urgency to find a breakthrough.
Riccardo Sottil, 5 – Offered little in the latter stages as we couldn’t find a breakthrough.
Tammy Abraham, 5 – Good movement on occasion, but we couldn’t get the final pass right and so he didn’t change much.
Samuel Chukwueze, N/A
Santiago Gimenez, N/A
