Player Ratings: Milan 1-3 Liverpool – Pulisic’s brilliance not enough to avoid defeat

Milan suffered a 3-1 home loss to Liverpool on their 2024-25 Champions League debut. Football Italia was among the accredited media at San Siro: here are the player ratings.

Maignan 5.5 – He pulled off a couple of nice saves before being subbed off in the second half. However, he got the timing of his exit completely wrong in Liverpool’s equaliser and didn’t budge from the goal line in Van Dijk’s goal. (51′ Torriani 6)

Calabria 5 – Gakpo’s pace and physicality made it almost impossible for him to cope with. (69′ Emerson Royal 6)

Pavlovic 5.5 – He could only watch Van Dijk jump behind him unbothered for Liverpool’s second of the night.

Tomori 6 – As much as he was responsible for marking Konaté, who scored the visitors’ equaliser, he was Milan’s last defender to surrender. (84′ Gabbia N/A)

Theo Hernandez 5.5 – Salah’s presence on his flank probably made it more timid than usual, but he struggled to pose any threat and looked vulnerable defensively.

Fofana 5 – His presence was barely felt in midfield when Liverpool increased their pace and intensity.

Loftus-Cheek 5 – He is still struggling to adapt to a deeper position, as he doesn’t shine in possession and often lacks the space to make the most of his physicality and running abilities. (69′ Abraham 6)

Pulisic 6.5 – He kept his cool and placed his low shot perfectly to give Milan an early lead. In general, he was one of the few Rossoneri players who looked able to light up a spark when Liverpool became dominant.

Reijnders 6 – Fonseca gives him too many tasks, as he starts as a trequartista before switching to a deeper position in an attempt to fix his side’s issues in the build-up.

Leao 5.5 – Another disappointing night for Milan’s number 10, as he seemed disconnected from the rest of his team most of the time, with his solo initiatives failing to pay off, including the one which saw him shot against the post in the closing minutes.

Morata 5.5 – His pass to Pulisic cut Liverpool’s defence wide open but, after setting up Milan’s opener he struggled to serve as an offensive point of reference to help his side ease the visitors’ pressure.  (84′ Okafor N/A)

Coach: Fonseca 5 – It was probably too much to ask this Milan side to go toe to toe with Liverpool but the Rossoneri completely switched off after a promising start, once again looking unable to be consistent even inside the same game. More than that, his team conceded nine goals from their first five matches of the season and keeps looking dramatically vulnerable at the back.

Liverpool: Alisson 6; Alexander-Arnold 6.5 (79′ Gomez N/A), Van Dijk 7, Konate 6.5, Tsimikas 6.5; Gravenberch 6.5, Mac Allister 6.5 (90′ Endo N/A); Salah 7 (90′ Chiesa N/A), Szoboszlai 7, Gakpo 7.5 (68′ Luis Diaz 6); Diogo Jota 6 (68′ Nunez 6). Coach: Slot 7