AC Milan suffered a 1-0 defeat to Porto in the Champions League on Tuesday night, as our hopes of advancing to the knockout stages took a blow.
The Rossoneri were looking for our first points of the campaign after defeats to Liverpool and Atletico Madrid prior to this clash, but it wasn’t to be as a second-half goal from Luis Diaz secured the victory for the hosts.
READ MORE: Analysis: Disjointed first half nearly costs Milan but Giroud class sparks comeback
In truth, with Porto enjoying more possession, creating more chances and attempting more shots on target than Milan, it’s tough to argue that we deserved much more from the game.
Nevertheless, Stefano Pioli will still believe his side can advance despite being in must-win territory now, and recovering our many absentees will certainly help moving forward.
Milan player ratings vs Porto:
Ciprian Tatarusanu, 6 – Wasn’t really tested despite Porto’s attempts and pressure, but stepped up when called into action and there was little he could have done on the goal.
Davide Calabria, 6 – A battling performance from our stand-in captain as he was pushed back and forced to defend for most of the game and stuck to his task diligently.
Simon Kjaer, 6.5 – A rock at the back for Milan once again as he used his experience, positioning and awareness to contain Porto’s attacking unit as much as possible. Produced a fine block in the first half too that likely saved a goal.
Fikayo Tomori, 6.5 – Similarly to his defensive partner, it was a solid performance from Tomori, and all the more impressive given his early yellow card. Defended well and also produced a superb, goal-denying, block of his own after the interval.
Fode Ballo-Toure, 5.5 – Struggled again in a difficult game. Caught out defensively on several occasions and didn’t provide much quality in an attacking sense. Too early to write him off completely, but certainly a lot of improvement and development is needed to meet the standard required.
Sandro Tonali, 6 – Wasn’t able to fully express himself in this game as Porto pressed high and with real intensity. However, he showed glimpses of his growing class and confidence with his technical quality on the ball and determination to drive forward.
Ismael Bennacer, 6.5 – Fought every minute of the game to try and give us a foothold and his work ethic and desire were second to none. Struggled in the bigger picture along with his teammates, but put in a real shift.
Alexis Saelemaekers, 5 – Poor night for the Belgian winger as he struggled to really have any sort of positive impact either in attack or with his pressing and defensive duties.
Rade Krunic, 5 – Similarly to many of his teammates in the attacking third, failed to really provide any quality of note to prise Porto open and never really looked a genuine goalscoring threat barring one opening where he looked for the assist rather than shoot himself.
Rafael Leao, 5 – Showed good intent and directness early on but faded as the game progressed and became less of an issue for the Porto defence. A night on which Milan were poor in general, Leao struggled to get us going.
Olivier Giroud, 5.5 – Not his best night but he battled hard up top to try and give us a focal point. Spurned a really good chance in the first half and appeared to pick up a knock which might have bothered him as the game went on.
Substitutions:
Pierre Kalulu, 5.5 – Difficult for him to come into the game and get up to the speed of it, especially considering the pace and movement of the Porto frontline.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 5 – Looked rusty for the most part and couldn’t give us the spark off the bench that we needed.
Alessio Romagnoli, 6 – Stepped in well next to Kjaer in the latter stages to keep things tight and keep us in the game.
Tiemoue Bakayoko, 5.5 – Slightly unfair to be too critical given his lack of playing time in recent weeks and the difficulty of his assignment on the night. Good to see him back in action though.
Daniel Maldini, N/A
