#ac-milan

#ac-milan

In the second half of Lazio vs. Milan, Leao twice made a deep run behind Adam Marusic. In both moves, there was a moment when Pulisic, in possession, could have sent a through ball to him. They were two difficult but not impossible passes that could have unlocked the game.

Milan 'effectively find themselves roughly halfway between their Champions League ties and the Scudetto race', which has become decidedly more complicated following last night's defeat to Lazio. While Massimiliano Allegri's side have racked up 60 points from 29 games, Napoli are now just one point behind, while Como are on 54, Juventus are on 53 and Roma on 51.

Lazio created a lot on his side, you don't need me to tell you that, and the Englishman lacked a little bit of concentration at times. He also didn't add much when going forward.

Four of the matchday squad are currently within a booking of a suspension, namely Zachary Athekame, Youssouf Fofana, Luka Modric and Alexis Saelemaekers. A booking would force them to miss the next league match against Torino.

Against Inter, in the 84 minutes played, he was one of the Milan players who ran the most with over 11 kilometres. He definitely helped the Rossoneri limit Inter's build-up phase and also led to a few mistakes at the back for the Nerazzurri.

The Massimiliano Allegri treatment has improved Pavlovic's performance levels a lot from his first season. The Serbian has become reliable not just in the defensive phase but also as a weapon going forward, detaching from the back three. After 28 league games, Milan have the best defence in Europe's top five leagues, and Pavlovic has been a big part of that.

Davide Bartesaghi was the star of a meet and greet involving AC Milan fans at the club store on Via Dante last night. There is no doubting that Bartesaghi has become a fan favourite at Milan already despite his young age, having stepped up when Pervis Estupinan was injured to seize a starting spot under Massimiliano Allegri.

A boy accustomed to scoring more than a goal per game in various youth categories and national teams has encountered the harsh reality of Serie A, which is unforgiving and physical. Playing against crafty defenders and carrying 20kg more has meant that the 2008-born player struggled with the step up, although not excessively.

Allegri put Milanello back at the centre of the entire sporting project from day one. He restored pre-match retreats whereby the players stay at the training complex before home games, as well as double training sessions and rules based on collegiality, like eating together. Allegri has fused all these aspects, transforming Milanello into a laboratory for recreating DNA, a sense of belonging, collective values and of course a tactical narrative capable of achieving the club's objectives.

As Newcastle prepared for the game against Barcelona, which ended 1-1 after two late goals, journalists and media were present at the training ground to watch the English side. This is standard for Champions League, i.e. the media being invited to a training session.

The bad news is that Rabiot will miss out due to the yellow card accumulation. He was on four yellow cards before the derby and was booked in the second half, taking his tally up to five points. It's not ideal to be without him, but at least his accumulation will now be reset.

I'm very calm. My concentration is 100% here at Corinthians. If I went to Milan I would be living a dream, but I'm living a dream here too. Playing for Corinthians is a dream I've always had since I was a child, even more so as a professional.

Situations like the André one must never happen again. Meaning: a club's scouting team must be able to work to find players they believe are suitable for Milan, but before going after them, there's a mandatory step: sharing the information with the coach and sporting director.