If the defensive department was the strength of AC Milan in the closing stages of last season, it has been very much a worry in the current campaign thus far.
Calciomercato.com report how Olivier Giroud’s winner against Napoli at the Stadio Diego Maradona in March was the start of a run that saw Milan concede just two goals in their last 11 league games, with nine clean sheets and nine wins. In that stretch, only Ciro Immobile and Davide Faraoni managed to beat Mike Maignan.
However, in the seven games played together by Pierre Kalulu and Fikayo Tomori (without counting the match against Sampdoria, when Kalulu was partnered by Kjaer), the goals conceded number is already at eight. Adding the three Champions League matches, the total becomes 13.
There are a number of factors that contribute such as the games being a lot closer together and the absence of Maignan, but they do not tell the whole story. The ranking is not a worry as Milan are three points behind leaders Napoli and Atalanta in Serie A and could still reach the UCL knockout stages, but clean sheets give a better chance.
The next two matches – against Juventus and against Chelsea – will be fundamental in both competitions. Regaining security in defence could launch Milan in view of the break for the World Cup.
Source sempremilan.com
