Team news: Milan were without Andrea Conti, Mateo Musacchio, Alessio Romagnoli, Alen Halilović, Tommaso Pobega and Rafael Leão, while Bologna had to do without the suspended Gary Medel. Kickoff time for Matchday 1 of the 2020/21 Serie A season was 20:45 CEST at Stadio San Siro.
Goals: Ibrahimović (35′, 50′ pk)
Red card: Dijks (88′)
AC Milan (4-2-3-1) – Stefano Pioli
Gianluigi Donnarumma; Davide Calabria, Simon Kjær (71′ Léo Duarte), Matteo Gabbia, Theo Hernández; Franck Kessié (76′ Sandro Tonali), Ismaël Bennacer (85′ Rade Krunić); Samu Castillejo (46′ Alexis Saelemaekers), Hakan Çalhanoğlu (71′ Brahim Díaz), Ante Rebić; Zlatan Ibrahimović.
Unused: Tătărușanu, A. Donnarumma, Kalulu, Laxalt, Paquetá, Colombo, Maldini.
Bologna F.C. 1909 (4-2-3-1) – Siniša Mihajlović
Łukasz Skorupski; Lorenzo De Silvestri, Danilo, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Mitchell Dijks; Jerdy Schouten, Nicolás Domínguez (56′ Nicola Sansone); Riccardo Orsolini (56′ Andreas Skov Olsen), Roberto Soriano (80′ Mattias Svanberg), Musa Barrow (83′ Emanuel Vignato); Rodrigo Palacio (80′ Federico Santander).
Unused: Da Costa, Bani, Denswil, Mbaye, Baldursson, Poli, Juwara.
Referee: Federico La Penna.
still doesnt have the balls to play brahim i see. ah well, at least rebic is back, and soon so will romag and leao. with key players coming back as starters, hopefully milan can maintain their post covid performance level
In 433, the 3 upfront are called forwards who have an equal big responsibilities in scoring goals like at Barca and Liverpool. This formation is an offensive and balance formation. Other offensive formation are 424 and 4213 but this formation are not balance because they are weak in midfield. In 4231, which not an offensive formation, the 1 upfront has the biggest responsibilities in scoring goals. The 3 players behind it are called Attacking MIDFIELDERS. An AM has both responsibilities in first, to assist and second, to score goals. But they are also have responsibilities to defend as a midfielder.… Read more »
So are u saying Chiesa doesn’t know how to defend ??? Am sorry , this your analysis does not hold water .
in back 4 formation, it should have 1 offensive fullback and 1 defensive full back so it always has 3 defenders at the back. That is why Calabria is more suitable than Conti since Theo is a good offensive fullback. In 4231, the 2 DMC should also has 1 more defensive who will cover the offensive full back. That is why Kessie is positioned on left DMC. When the left fullback is offensive, then the AML should play more to cut inside like what Rebic does. Then the AMR should take the responsibility to play wide and make crossing.
that is why Saelemaekers is more suitable than Samu to fill the AMR because he is a right footed and his responsibility is more to make good crossing or assist than to add more goals
In 4231, since one DMC is a deep playmaking, the AMC should take more responsibility to add goals from second line or long shoot or solo run. This was what Kaka did in the past since Pirlo did the deep playmaking. Hakan is good (not excellent) in shooting from inside and outside the box but not in solo run because he is slow, but he is still better than Paqueta in this role position. But Diaz showed promising ability in preseason to play better than Hakan in this role position
Watching the team when Bologna were on the ball, I saw Hakan pulling back quite deep on the LCM position and when Milan were attacking he also started from the deep pulling with the ball into the no. 10 position. He seemed quite lively in the build up, not slow at all
lol, galliani at san siro celebrating ibra’s goal. what is this, 2011 again? good stuff
That’s what I was about to say. Just like old times 😉
and in the end ibra won the match for milan with his doppietta, EXACTLY like good old times. good stuff
I don’t know who said that Ibra should be Piatek’s substitute… Because Ibra is old… And you and I were trying to make fun of that user. How to ever say Piatek better than Ibra ??? OMG
i know who it was and lets just say he was on some potent mushroom haha.
piatek is not bad #9 but ibra is so much better and more complete
Any link pls?
Hesgoal
Lol
Imagine if Ibra had stayed with us since 2012 as he wanted… Incredible player.
Samu big disappointment….
Got stupid yellow card ! Just first match..and some people here said we don’t need a right winger ….
He can’t stay on his feet.. I saw him as 80th min sub
saladmaker and brahim said namaste
Yep, didn’t see that one coming… How this guy managed to fool Milan into offering him a contract is mind blowing.
I really don’t get why Castillejo always cuts in the middle while Calabria already is in good position to cross.. I never seen once just once he passes the ball for crossing …
Good solid win but Pioli made his substitutions way too early. Smh
Especially with removing the core of the team defense and midfield pairing of Bennacer and Kessié.
There’s no rush to play Tonali. Sigh. The season is long so he will have time to integrate with the team.
Brahim Díaz looked nice. Really like what I saw from him and what about Calabria? Wow! What a performance. He’s improving and he was great today.
Yes Calabria was a monster tonight. Good job to him. He had one bad season and came back strong proving us all wrong.
I believe it’s because we have a match this Thursday and he wanted to rest some of his key players and not risk an injury.
Ok, that makes sense
how about ibra? was he better than kris “better than inzaghi” piatek? andre silva has scored 2 goals btw
Bro, get over yourself man. Your Like an annoying kid. You can move on from that now. Good grief!
why dont u move on first and praise ibra who literally won the match for milan
Ignore him. Stupid comments and stupid name calling people – our own players who we should be loving. Like come on.
I will definitely take your advice 🙂 Thanks
He is sometimes wrong, I had also argues about his ideas, but this time, regarding this question, he is right, I was also irritated when I wrote that Ibra should be Piatek’s substitute. There is no comparison beetween Ibra and Piatek, one is a champion, a fuoriclasse, a top class and one is a decent/good striker, one season wonder
You are extremely right with this question, thumb up ! Some people don’t understand football, how ever to say Ibra should be Piatek’s reserve ? Looool
those people are called les midtables or the uninitiated
We have a game on Thursday so these players need some rest. That’s why he made those subs
If the score allows to make some changes it’s ok to do it, because Tonali and Diaz need minutes in their legs, it’s the best way to integrate them and to give them confidence. Also for Duarte, let’s not forget that thursday we play again a very important game and we need fresh people.
Good win. Ibracadabra missed a hat trick – wasn’t so easy though. Castilejo is a good squad player, that’s all.. but salaemaekers was much better than him tonight. Has good vision but weak shots,passes, etc. That should give Maldini a sign that we surely need a winger. Tonali wasn’t sharp, not sure what’s up.. maybe he’s still very nervous. So let’s give him time. Our midfield is kinda set to be honest. DM should be the least priority. Diaz was tricky but most of the time he over did it. I don’t think he’s going to do anything significant to… Read more »
I believe Brahim Diaz will be a monster for us this season. Give him time. Tonali needs time too. I don’t know why Pioli is rushing to play him. He will need a full season to settle.
I hope he does. But either way he’s going back to Real so I don’t want to focus on him sadly.
Being up 2-0 and taking the core of midfield to bring in tonali and drahim was a risk but it’s good to give them minutes. You always want to show your new signings and slowly integrate them into the team. It was a fine fine match for it being the first game of the season. Calabria, gabbia, donnarumma, bennacer and ibra all looked of top quality. They all had a good game and my only doubt was castillejo. He’s a good bench player but we need a new winger and also a defender. Those should be the priorities and we… Read more »
Agreed 100%. Pioli should bench Castellijo and start Saelemaekers or Brahim Diaz. We definitely need a winger. Still dreaming about Chiesa. Keita Balde is another good option too.
congrats john malkovich and the boys for the convincing win. all players except samu and hakan were solid but bennnassie, theo, rebic and ibra were class way above the others. also, it says a lot about how maldini and moncada are successfully rebuilding the squad that nowadays milan can sub on players who are just as good if not better than the starters as clearly brahim and saladmaker were having better night than samu and hakan. although i must say, john must realize that milan looked very unbalanced allowing bologna to have at least 2 or 3 legit goalscoring chances… Read more »
My friend, Rebic played under his possibilities, he was not so good in yesterday game, he run a lot, put some effort, but in the attack he did nothing, Rebic was on the same level like Hakan, under their possibilities
last nite, as always, rebic’s ball control, decision making skills and footballing intelligence were way above everyone else except ibra and theo. yes he was underwhelming but its because hakan and ibra wouldnt pass him the ball. rebic looked world class
Donna: Savior
Theo: Unstoppable
Gabbia: Solid
Kjaer: Interceptor
Calabria: Engine
Bennacer: Reliable
Kessie: Technical
Rebic: Strong
Calhanoglu: Indispensable
Castillejo: Desire
Zlatan: Ibrahimovic
Diaz: Classy
Saelemakers: Promising
Krunic: Yellow
Tonalli: Sorry
Duarte: So-so
Pioli: Crazy
Galliani: Bungalol joking… Fan
Kessie and Bennacer should be swapped.
You know? Bennacer is not doing much, Kessie is way more influential, he is pulling some Bakayoko’s skills to cover the ball and find space to pass forward.
Bennacer’s role is a bit more of covering spaces, this game showed me that we do not have an alternative for Kessie, and he is one of the indispensables, maybe even more than Calhanoglu.
Dona was great must have saved three to four goal scoring opportunities any one seen what kepa did at Chelsea yesterday. Calabria was monster today, good performance from Theo too….as soon as kajer goes we crumble plz maldini cb is top priority….kessie and Ismaël dominated midfield silk moves perfect as match goes on….hakan was good so was Díaz…..will be looking forward to see him start this upcoming Europa qualifying round….Díaz can have a season with us looks more promising than tonali…Rebic was ok but zlatan was boss today….and salesmakers really surprised me good performance but Samu was disappointing….cb and rw… Read more »
I want Pioli to try replacing Castillejo with Brahim Diaz in the starting XI. That boy has quick feets and is a better dribbler and isn’t afraid to play direct football by taking on opposing players. From the little I have seen from him ,he can do a better job than Castillejo on the right wing without even using the extent of his abilities.
Can we all finally agree we need a rw that is truly fast and can at least be more direct. Obviously if they were goal scorers that would be preferred but if they can only take players on and provide assists, that would be fantastic to.
things we learned from todays match:
-we dont need a new RB (calabria can reach maturity this year)
-we need a new CB
-we need a sub-CM (tonali wont be ready b4 Jan nxt yr)
-we need a world class RW asap
Tonali will be ready in 2 weeks !
Calabria is a good attacking full back and has always been, last season he was garbage, like most of the team before Ibra’s arrival. Tonalli is a NT player, he is ready now. CB? IDK, Gabbia was solid, he played with confidence, and did not make huge errors. Sub DM for Kessie is needed, but one of his caliber is a tough one to find, maybe Bakayoko’s but fuck Chelsea. I trust the scouts to find a man with the same characteristics for 15m CHIESA CHIESA CHIESA CHIESA CHIESA! Imagine Chiesa and Calabria, that’s a nightmare for all the teams… Read more »
For those who say that certain players didnt perform as good, relax. This players were either injured for a longer time or just joined the team, they are still not fit give them a month to come back in form and gel with the rest of the team.
Agree
Why was Kjaer substituted? Is he injured? The defense looked vulnerable since Kessie and Kjaer out.
The coach was thinking about Thursday ‘s match.
I can’t remember, is this the the first time milan won their first match of the season for idk how many years now?
Anyway nice win.
I hope Calabria will improve even further so milan can focus their budget for cb and rw
Agree
Why would someone give you a thumb down just for saying “agree” ?
Haha I was thinking the same Lando. Kinda funny
Good first match from the team, confident display, deserved win. Ibra is Ibra, real life Benjamin Button as he calls himself. Calabria was really good, hope he builds on it. I was really impressed by Brahim Diaz. Sure the boy needs more time to gel with others and adjust to the league but his hunger and attack driven mentality was really refreshing, let alone boy’s quick feet. Had me nervous when Kjaer was subbed for Duarte. You can’t leave Gabbia on the field with someone who just came back from long lay off, especially someone like Duarte who hasn’t play… Read more »
True
Diaz played better than Hakan
It seems that Milan10 and I are the person who get the most thumbs down in this blog. Lol
lmao. now now mate. first off, even preteens should learn not caring about how many thumbs down or mean things said to them on goddamn internet. secondly, thumbs down u, let alone milan10, get dont necessarily means that u, let alone milan10, are wrong. it might mean ur so right and so ahead of others when it comes to football knowledge. i also got many thumbs down when i said milan should get rid of morontella, hakan should play as am, kessie as dm, ibra must come back, maldini and pioli should stay etc. dont worry, like i said last… Read more »
Or when you claimed that without 442 Milan won’t win, it’s good that Pioli is not a Milan10ista, joking pal
whoa mate, so milan DID win something with this 4-2-3-1? i must’ve been sleeping for years
Milan10’s attitude of being a dick leds him to thumbs down(not me), He knows what he is talking about.
Your arguments are designed for thumbs down(not me)
theres clear difference between being a dick and being all-knowingly frank *wink