Massimiliano Allegri’s Milan is a very fast team that takes full advantage of the space left by opponents. They also rely heavily on the technical quality of their midfield, particularly Luka Modrić, who has a 91% pass accuracy despite being the player with the highest number of passes for Milan, including an impressive 83% accuracy in the attacking third. Milan generally like to “defend with the ball”, maintaining possession and controlling the tempo. However, in matches such as the Derby della Madonnina and against Roma, Milan adopted a much more defensive approach, focusing even more on exploiting the space behind high defensive lines through quick transitions.
In these games, Milan were defensively solid while allowing both teams to take a high number of shots, though very few were clear-cut chances. Against Roma in particular, Milan actually created more high-quality chances than their opponents. The midfield trio operates with strong balance, shifting towards the side of the opponent’s attack. The players are given freedom to step out aggressively to close down space when they judge it necessary, creating overloads around the ball. This helps Milan either regain possession quickly or force opponents backwards, restarting their build-up far from Milan’s penalty area.
When building from the back, Milan usually open up the central and left-sided centre-backs to receive the ball out wide. The right centre-back moves wider to function almost as a right-back, while Pervis Estupiñán pushes forward from left wing-back into a high, wide left-back role to provide width. In midfield, there is a frequent positional rotation: Modrić, who typically starts as the deepest midfielder, often moves higher to operate as an attacking midfielder. Meanwhile, the other two central midfielders drop closer to the defence, forming a double pivot to offer passing options through the middle.
Because the right centre-back shifts wide, the right wing-back pushes higher and often operates as a second attacker alongside the forward line. Usually, Rafael Leão drifts inside to play as a central striker, while the other attacker moves wider to stretch the defence. Milan alternate between early associative build-up and direct long balls from deep. The long balls are aimed at exploiting the pace of the two attackers and the advanced right wing-back. In the more patient build-up, Milan consistently look to find Modrić, their key creative hub, using his technical quality to quickly restart attacks. This approach proved especially effective against teams like Inter and Roma.
In their high build-up, Milan use numbers and speed to access the penalty area through quick combinations. They rely heavily on short passing and through balls, particularly down the flanks, using the pace of their attackers and wing-backs. Modrić acts as the conductor in midfield, finding spaces and unlocking compact defensive blocks with his vision and passing range.
The three centre-backs stay relatively close together, while the right wing-back positions himself in line with Modrić, who operates as a central midfielder and often dictates possession for long periods. On the left side, the left central midfielder moves wide to act almost as a wing-back, with both players pushing high to overload the flank in the final third. Estupiñán shifts from wing-back into a left-sided midfield role, while the right central midfielder mirrors this movement on the opposite side. Both attackers remain high, constantly looking to exploit gaps between defenders. The side midfielders and wing-backs provide width and penetration, allowing Modrić to stay slightly deeper behind the attacking block.
This structure has worked very well for Milan so far. The team currently sits top of Serie A, boasting the third-best attack in the league, behind Bologna in second and city rivals Inter, who lead the scoring charts by a significant margin. Defensively, Milan are the second-best defence in the competition, behind only Roma. Milan have faced all three of these teams and managed to score against Roma without conceding, while also keeping clean sheets against Inter and Bologna.
With their solid defensive base and rapid attacking transitions, Milan have controlled matches against lower-ranked teams and also performed strongly in high-level fixtures, particularly in derby matches. As the season approaches its midpoint, it is still too early to declare Milan title favourites. However, supporters can clearly see a team with the credentials to secure European qualification once again, with Champions League football a realistic and achievable target based on everything shown so far.
Embed from Getty ImagesWritten by Israel Schmidt de Azevedo
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