AC Milan were held to a goalless draw by Newcastle Utd in our Champions League opener, on a frustrating night at San Siro given our wasteful performance.
While the Rossoneri were able to put a point on the board to get our European campaign underway, it remains to be seen if it proves to be a costly opportunity missed with encounters against Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund to come, as well as a trip to St James’ Park.
READ MORE: Milan player ratings vs Newcastle: Key man disappoints on frustrating night
Nevertheless, it’s a result that we’ll have to try and improve upon moving forward now, and we’ll hopefully learn from the experience in terms of avoiding a repeat scenario.
Next up is Verona at home this weekend, and Stefano Pioli and his players will undoubtedly be fully focused on getting back to winning ways with rotation perhaps possible amid a hectic schedule.
Milan produce good response, but wasteful performance
After the disaster that was the result last weekend against Inter, it was crucial that Milan produced a positive reaction and were significantly more competitive in a tricky assignment.
While that was accomplished as we controlled the game for the most part and were undoubtedly the more dangerous side of the two, there was still disappointment and frustration as we couldn’t find a breakthrough.
Not only did Newcastle defend well, but it was our own wasteful display that cost us as we should have been ahead at half-time but spurned multiple big opportunities and ultimately were left to rue them.
Disappointing Leao underwhelms on big night
Opening night of our Champions League campaign, at home in front of an expectant crowd, and with our big-game players primed to make the difference.
Unfortunately, this was one to forget for our talisman Rafael Leao, as he was bitterly disappointing throughout and missed the best chance of the night with some woeful finishing.
Coupled with generally being wasteful in possession and showing little interest in the defensive phase of the game, while Pioli will defend him in the media and he’ll no doubt be the difference-maker on many occasions for us over the course of the campaign, he surely won’t have been pleased with the efforts of our attacking star in this one.
Tomori impressive on his return
Although he’s had his troubles with form in more recent times and hasn’t always looked as convincing as he has previously, Fikayo Tomori returned from suspension and looked solid.
Not only did he snuff out danger himself and nullified Newcastle’s attacking threat, but he was able to cover for others and Malick Thiaw looked a lot more settled and composed next to him too.
While that’s not to say that Tomori is back and our defensive woes from that 5-1 defeat to Inter are now solved, it’s clear that his presence makes an important impact at the back for us in terms of what he provides and how it affects those next to him.
Injury concerns for Maignan, Loftus-Cheek
While Pioli dismissed concern over Ruben Loftus-Cheek as he suggested that he was merely struggling with cramp, it doesn’t sound as good for Maignan.
The Frenchman suffered a ‘strain in his left flexor’, according to MilanNews, and so it remains to be seen how long that issue will sideline him for now.
Importantly, it appears as though we have a more capable replacement available in Marco Sportiello this season to fill that void if required, while Yunus Musah impressed off the bench in midweek and could be in line for a more prominent role if Loftus-Cheek misses out against Verona.
More quality needed as tweaks expected vs Verona
With three Serie A games over seven days starting on Saturday, Pioli will have to rotate and keep everyone fresh to avoid further injury setbacks.
In turn, changes are expected against Verona this weekend, and many of those who started on the bench in midweek could be given a starting berth instead.
Musah, Christian Pulisic, Tijjani Reijnders and Alessandro Florenzi all looked positive in the second half on Tuesday, and so it’s hoped that they all feature prominently to inject some more quality in our attacking play and hopefully inspire a decisive end product.
It could also perhaps be an opportunity for the likes of Luka Jovic and Noah Okafor to make an impact and give others an opportunity to rest.
