Hellas Verona 0-1 AC Milan: Five things we learned – midfield dominance and young blood

Following a dire 0-0 draw against Genoa, Milan and Paulo Fonseca were desperate to bounce back with a win against Verona. Thanks to individual brilliance, they managed to do so and below are five things we learned from the game. 

Indeed, disregarding the individual quality on the 1-0 goal, not much changed from the draw against Genoa. Furthermore, Rafael Leao was taken off after 30 minutes with an injury and that naturally hurt Milan’s creativity when going forward.

The dull affair continued in the second half, with the Rossoneri dominating possession but doing very little with it. Eventually, thanks to a great link-up by Youssouf Fofana and Tijjani Reijnders, Milan managed to break the deadlock.

After that goal, the game continued in its dull fashion and this was obviously in Milan’s favour, as they badly needed this win. Below are five things we learned from the game…

1. Thiaw-Gabbia working well

Malick Thiaw and Matteo Gabbia have emerged as Fonseca’s preferred centre-back duo and that is only right, having worked very well together in the last few games.

The Italian was solid throughout the game, winning most of his duels and not allowing much for the opposition. The German also did well defensively, but he above all stepped up with his passing between the lines as well as a couple of nice running going forward.

In short, it was really positive from the duo and hopefully their teammates up front can start racking up goals to make the most out of the defensive solidity.

2. Fofana ran the show 

Youssouf Fofana did very well in the middle of the park, drawing fouls constantly which proved just how hard it was to dispossess him on the night.

The Frenchman also showed off his passing abilities with the assist for the goal as he had the vision and quality to execute a brilliant through ball to Tijjani Reijnders. While the latter scored the winner, we named Fofana the MOTM.

The midfielder has certainly improved a lot compared to his performances at the beginning of the season and has started to add more assists to his game too.

3. Reijnders back on track

The Dutchman has had some mixed performances lately, but we can’t judge him too much as he was in red-hot form prior to that. Not to mention that the drop was somewhat logical given the hectic schedule for Milan recently, with Reijnders not having a lot of resting time.

Against Verona, however, he did well and really stepped up in the second half where he was finding more space through the middle. This was evident on the goal as he provided a lovely finish which made it look very easy, but it was anything but that.

It’s a joy to watch Fofana and Reijnders at the top of their game, especially since they complement each other well.

4. Jimenez puts trio to shame

The Spaniard started as a left-back but moved to the left wing after Rafael Leao’s substitution and did very well as he wasn’t afraid to drive forward. His explosiveness allowed him to beat his man and get into shooting positions. Should he continue like this, the debut foal for the senior team will come soon enough.

The 19-year-old has done more in the two games he played than what Samuel Chukwueze and Emerson Royal have done since the start of the season. On top of that, he has also looked sharper than Theo Hernandez with the Frenchman struggling to get going since August.

Fonseca stated after the game that Jimernez will continue to be a starter for Milan, although the position is yet to be fully defined (especially now with Leao injured).

5. Duo good off the bench

Since we mentioned Theo’s mixed performances in the previous point, it’s also fair to say that he entered the game with the right attitude against Verona. He was not a game-changer, but he did his job defensively and looked more focused than usual and did not make unforced errors, with a couple of good moments going forward too.

Calabria also did well after coming on as he brought a bit more stability on the right flank as he was more efficient than Chukwueze, truth be told, despite playing as a winger. Nothing flashy, but kept the ball well in his more advanced role especially in the dying minutes to help slow down the pace and secure the win.