Non-threatening attack, Bastoni finds weak spot: Tactical analysis of AC Milan 1-2 Inter

At the base of the side, Davide Calabria tended to remain deeper in build-up phases, alongside a central Matteo Gabbia and a slightly wider-left positioned Fikayo Tomori. Ahead of them, Tijjani Reijnders and Yacine Adli operated in a double pivot.

This left a staggered, and interchangeable, forward line of five. This consisted of Yunus Musah wide right, Theo Hernández typically advanced on the left-hand side of the pitch, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic occupying central areas between the lines, in support of Rafael Leão who had the freedom to roam from his initial central starting point.

The image and words above only serve to describe the basic arrangement of the Milan players when in possession though. What was their actual plan with the ball? Well, pre-match, Pioli offered one specific idea he had in mind. 

The Milan head coach wanted his forward line to have “fewer fixed points” (presumably be dynamic, interchange positions with each other to be more difficult to mark and disjoint the Inter backline in the process), and offer “more presence in behind” (less presumption needed here, basically make runs in behind the Inter backline).

This insight from Pioli only revealed part of the team’s plan though, Milan needed to first get the ball up the pitch. In the opening minutes, not only did the home side’s progression intentions become clearer but also the difficulties they would face in executing their overall attacking gameplan.

In these two early sequences, Milan showcased how they were going to attempt to progress possession. In essence, go around the Inter block, as this is where the space is against their system. Here you can see how both Adli and Reijnders had license to pull wider, out of central areas, to receive the ball during build-up phases.

In between the two images above, Milan worked the ball from one side of the pitch to the other, using their base and double pivot. The idea appeared to be, shift the opposition from side-to-side and hopefully create gaps that could be exploited elsewhere, ideally centrally.

But whilst this plan sounds good in theory, in practice it was easier said than done. In this first instance, after deeming to have shifted the Inter block sufficiently, an attempt was made to pass vertically through the away side’s midfield line but the ball was intercepted by Hakan Çalhanoğlu.

And this didn’t just happen once. A minute later, a similar sequence arose. First, Reijnders pulled wide to receive the ball…

…and after some consequence passes, Milan were in the opposition half. Once there, they again attempted to break lines with a pass through the Inter midfield but a Çalhanoğlu foot blocked the passing lane. Then, a defensive moment…

…quickly turned into a counterattacking opportunity. However, in a demonstration of why Pioli uses a 3-2 base in his in possession structure (not just to circulate the ball and stretch the opposition’s forward line), Milan’s three players behind the ball were able to deal with the danger of Lautaro Martínez and Marcus Thuram.

These two examples were perfect demonstrations of how compact Inter were (and would remain) out of possession. And whilst Pioli referenced an intent to get in behind his opponents, in actuality this neither failed to materialise or generate any danger.

The reasons being – 1) the Inter backline rarely got disjointed, or took the bait of attempted opposite movements, so always had players to deal with any passes and runs in behind.

2) The Milan players failed to regularly offer runs in behind, preferring to come to feet which helped keep everything in front of Inter.

3) Even when players did make runs beyond, the passes to find them were not always executed.

And 4) as Inter defended so deep at times, any threat in behind was often limited as minimal space to play into.

So with Inter effectively blocking central areas of the pitch and limiting the threat of going in behind, it is therefore not surprising that the majority of Milan’s attacking play in this derby came from wide areas.

In total, Milan attempted 21 crosses which is not their highest of the season but more than their Serie A average of 15. However, with Inter defending so low and compact, the away side always had numbers in the box to defend.

Milan’s cross frequency increased in the second half (14 attempts), once Olivier Giroud came onto the pitch but then quality of crosses became the issue with a number blocked, overhit or failing to find a teammate.

Various expected goals models had Milan at between 2-3 xG in this fixture but when scruntised in more detail, this could be argued as flattering towards their overall chance creation. A large proportion of the total xG came from Tomori’s goal which a) came from a corner kick and b) involved a close range Gabbia headed shot immediately prior which is also counted in the numbers.

Overall, despite the hosts slightly higher possession share, Milan were largely non threatening in attack. Probably the most memorable Milan moment was Leão’s opportunity from a counterattack in the 29th minute.

One of the reason’s this specific transitional moment was possible was due to Milan’s defensive gameplan. This out of possession set-up and approach had its own upsides but also consequential downsides, as we’ll come onto now.

Bastoni finds weak spot

Out of possession, Pioli referenced that he wanted his side to defend “a little lower” and avoid the issues they faced against Inter in previous matches, namely losing duels and allowing space in behind.

How this defensive plan looked in practice, was in essence a 5-3-2 (often resembling more of a 5-2-1-2 at times though). The back five consisted of Musah dropping back, allowing Calabria to play narrower and defend the (Inter left) half-space. Three central midfielders were ahead of this backline, with Loftus-Cheek and Adli having more specific player-oriented roles (versus Çalhanoğlu and Barella respectively) and Reijnders having a multifaceted job (covering Mkhitaryan and pressing the Inter back three when needed). 

As Milan’s forward line of two (Pulisic and Leão) would be outnumbered by Inter’s three centre-backs, the idea was for Reijnders and Calabria to each have hybrid defensive jobs to help provide a solution to this potential (inevitable) issue.

Whilst Pioli’s preference (to avoid allowing space in behind) was to maintain numerical superiority in their backline of five against Inter’s forward line – often composed of their two strikers, wing-backs and at least one midfielder – if and when needed, Reijnders would release himself from staying in close proximity to Mkhitaryan to engage the ball ahead.

In these instances, Mkhitaryan would become Calabria’s responsibility, with the Italian defender required to push out of the backline to cover the Armenian international. However, much like the attacking gameplan, these tactics had issues when put into practice. Plus, Inter did their best to exacerbate the identified weakness.

The issues first began to reveal themselves in the 5th minute. Here, you can see Pulisic and Leão in a 3v2 against Inter’s three centre-backs and behind them, Loftus-Cheek and Adli in close proximity to their designated central midfield opponent.

Whether instructed to allow the pass or just an example of poor defensive awareness and/or lazy workrate, Leão allowed an easy ball to Bastoni who had pulled wide to occupy the left-back area.

In the next visual, you can begin to see stresses this easy build-up exit and overload caused Milan with Reijnders now having to pass on Mkhitaryan to go and engage – with a large distance to recover – and Calabria needing to pick up Mkhitaryan, leaving Martínez unattended who he was situationally picking up as the Argentine had dropped deep between the lines.

Inter actually ended up recycling possession in this action, before working the ball to the opposite side of the pitch where Milan’s defensive shape became more visible.

In this next visual, Theo Hernández jumped to engage Matteo Darmian and Loftus-Cheek and Adli were again breathing down their respective opponents necks, all of which helped force Inter back towards their own goal. What else can be seen below is Reijnders scanning to check the whereabouts of Mkhitaryan.

After Inter restarted their build-up, they again were able to manufacture an opportunity where they could progress the ball via accessing the free and unmarked Bastoni.

This passing option was aided by the simultaneous off-ball movements of Federico Dimarco, to pin Musah and Calabria (preventing either to push out wide to engage), and Mkhitaryan moving infield to give Reijnders an issue of who the biggest danger was. The Dutch midfielders slight hesitation enabled Bastoni to make a forward pass which Milan managed to close down and concede a throw-in.

From this point, Inter and Bastoni continued to exploit this weak spot in Milan’s defensive set-up. In the 7th minute, Adli’s pressure on Barella initially forced a pass back to Sommer. Note, Mkhitaryan’s and Reijnders initial positions below.

From the subsequent build-up attempt, Çalhanoğlu, who dropped deeper to get on the ball, was able to thread another pass into Bastoni’s path (questions can be asked of Leão again).

Once more, Mkhitaryan had moved on the inside of Reijnders to give him a decision to make. Plus, Dimarco simultaneously roamed infield to pin the Milan backline and create space for Bastoni to advance into.

And that’s exactly what the Inter left centre-back did, with Reijnders trying to recover but the distance was too large to make up. This allowed Bastoni the chance to…

…cross towards the far post, where Darmian cushioned the ball for Martínez whose shot (1st of the game for either side) sailed over the bar.

In this next example from the 17th minute, the sequence started with Milan clearing a Inter corner kick and both side’s adjusting to this transitional moment. Once play settled, Inter were able to find their easy exit to Bastoni which Reijnders began to close down, but as was becoming a recurring theme, the Dutch international was too late to affect the action.

As a result, Bastoni had time and space on the ball and he opted to go in behind the Milan backline to meet Thuram’s depth run. The outcome, Inter won a corner kick which they scored from.

Milan fans will have been frustrated at the fact that Acerbi was able to break the deadlock with an unmarked header inside the box. And to understand why the host’s marking went a awry in this instance, we can take clues from the corner taken a few minutes earlier.

Below, a huddle of players congregated with the Inter players trying to cause confusion for their designated markers. The responsibilities of the involved players appeared to be Calabria on Martínez, Theo Hernández on Pavard, Adli on Bastoni, and away from this crowded scene was Gabbia on Acerbi. 

Fast forward to the corner which Milan conceded from and you can now see a familiar crowded scene, this time with the addition of Gabbia and Acerbi. In the hustle of the crowd, at this exact moment, Gabbia is closer to Bastoni than Acerbi and Calabria is gesturing to Adli that he needs to get closer to his own player, Bastoni.

Four seconds later, Adli had undoubtedly listened to his captain’s words but now Inter had a line of three players with only one being closely marked. 

The result, the corner kick came in, and in all the intentional confusion caused by Inter, Acerbi found himself free (with Gabbia ending up getting attracted to Martínez despite Calabria performing that role) to score and make it 1-0.

Despite going a goal behind, and their being a clear weak point, Pioli persisted with his side’s defensive set-up. In the 33rd minute, there was an illustration of Reijnders and Calabria’s hybrid defensive jobs in action.

With Inter playing out from the back, Reijnders’ focus was ahead and on the Inter backline. As a result, Calabria had pushed up to mark Mkhitaryan.

However, as Inter switched play to the opposite side of the pitch, that was the cue for Calabria and Reijnders to revert roles. Calabria’s priority became dropping back to provide coverage in the backline and therefore Reijnders needed to get back to ensure somebody was marking Mkhitaryan. No consequence in this passage of play but a demonstration of the complexities of these players roles.

It is worth highlighting there were occasional upsides of Milan’s out of possession plan, and not only the counterattacking opportunities it afforded them in transitional moments.

In this sequence at the start of the second half, Milan’s activated pressing scheme helped first force Inter backwards…

…and then into a rushed forward pass that went out for a throw-in. Here, Reijnders timed his pressure on Bastoni immediately as he received the ball.

However, the moments of defensive success did not undue the consequential issues the weakness in their system caused. As a free Bastoni also played a part in Inter’s second, and decisive, goal.

Play started with a simple pass from Sommer to his centre-back. At this moment, the Milan players were in their usual defensive positions with Reijnders waiting to be sure Mkhitaryan was picked up before switching roles to close down Bastoni.

As usual, Reijnders couldn’t make up the distance in time, and as a result, Bastoni was able to receive the ball, get his head up and assess his forward options.

In this instance, he would have noticed a disconnected Milan backline with both Calabria and Musah having jumped up to engage an opponent, leaving Thuram 1v2 against Tomori and Gabbia.

Whilst the odds were in Milan’s favour here, Thuram did well to hold onto the ball before cutting inside and managing to squeeze the ball past Calabria’s (technically poor) attempt at a block and the reach of fellow countryman, Mike Maignan.

This goal ultimately ended up proving to be the winner. The action following this goal was relatively uneventful, with neither side moving the xG needle for another 30 minutes.

Milan did manage to pull one goal back from a corner kick (taken short and circulated before crossing) in the 80th minute before substitute Noah Okafor nearly capitalised upon a Sommer spillage to score in the 83rd minute but it ended 2-1 to Inter. 

Milan’s frustration at not only losing the derby, but also awarding Inter the title, boiled over into two red cards for the home side. Meaning the Rossoneri head into the Juventus game this weekend with three players suspended. Whilst still in the job, Pioli will need to make personnel adjustments to his side and lift spirits to ensure the season does not spiral towards a disastrous conclusion.

All stats referenced in this article were sourced from Wyscout.