Tonights game marks the historic rebrand of the Champions League, being kicked off by two of Europes most prolific and famous teams, AC Milan and Liverpool. The two sides have seven Champions Leagues each, with only Real Madrid having more.
Slot’s decision to field Tsimikas at left back over Robertson did not yield immediate results, as Pulisic only needed three minutes to beat the Greek to score the opener of the game.
Tsimikas was drawn well out of position by Maignan’s long ball, which was knocked down by Calabria into Morata. Morata then had the easy job of finding the vacated space at left back for Pulisic to attack, driving down the right hand channel and finishing across goal.
Maignan did not cover himself in glory, but was unassisted by his defence. Liverpools first and second goal came from corners, with Maignan coming out to collect the first cross, but being too slow and beaten to it by Konate, leading to the equaliser in the 23rd minute.
Tsimikas made up for his error that lead to AC’s opening goal, as his corner in the 41st minute landed on the head of van Dijk to give Liverpool the lead going into the break. It was almost an exact mirror image of Alexander-Arnold and Konate’s corner goal.
Maignan cannot concede too much criticism for his performance, as he heroically played through injury until the pain was too much for him.
A final collision with Jota was just too much for the goalkeeper, who left the field with his shirt pulled over his head hobbling back to the dressing room, being replaced by youngster Torriani in the 51st minute.
Gakpo seems far more comfortable in Slot’s system in comparison to his performances under Clop. Gakpo, playing on the left hand side of an attacking trio, had far more joy running into space and finding crosses into the box, which was how he got his assist for Szoboszlai’s goal in the 67th minute.
Norwegian referee Espen Eskås withstood immense pressure from within the San Siro to not give in to the crowd. Regardless of the pressure, Eskås did not give in to Morata’s fraudulent penalty claim in the 59th minute.
The game opened up for Liverpool past the 60th minute mark, as AC could no longer sit deep. Liverpool consistently found options in behind the Italian backline, with most attacks being spearheaded by Szoboszlai.
AC Milan were effective at getting men back behind the ball and recovering from these Liverpool breakthroughs, managing to stop the bleeding further.
ANALYSIS
AC Milan’s counter attacking approach proved effective, and would have won them the game had they not also employed a man-marking strategy from set pieces.
AC’s strategy to allow Liverpool to press them and drag players out of position was effective, up until Slot saw what was happening. Slot switches to a trigger press from about the 20th minute onwards, and AC Milan could no longer find these gaps to expose.
Liverpool also became more compact, allowing AC Milan to have the outside flanks, but not allowing them to have any possession in the midfield. AC often found themselves with the ball in aggressive wide areas, but no where to move it.
Liverpool remained calm and composed on the ball, occasionally giving it away, but very much allowed the game to come to them.
Liverpools effective attacking on space at set pieces granted them a foothold in this game, and forced AC Milan to change strategy. Konate and van Dijk are big, strong arial presence, their ability to attach in swinging crosses can be deadly.
Despite his early mistake, Tsimikas calmed into his role and became far more convincing once he allowed players to run at him, and did not press the ball as much. He worked better in the unit. His selection also makes greater sense, as his set piece presence was instantly noticed.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Due to this being the first round of games in the new format, we really don’t know what this could mean for Milan or Liverpool.
The first and most obvious take away is that Slot is working so far at Liverpool, and despite Klopp’s nine years in charge, no transition in style or culture has been required for Liverpool to become a force. This may be one of the more seamless transitions in managers in modern football history.
AC will end the night outside of the top 24. The top 24 being significant as these are the team that will go through to the next round, out of 36.
Do AC need to be worried? Realistically, no. There are many games left and Liverpool are one of the most difficult teams in the league. However, the true importance of each point will be revealed later, as it is so early into this new Champions League format to tell the significance of one result.:
Comments