Hybrid marking, thwarting threats and taking risks: Tactical analysis of Inter 2-3 AC Milan | OneFootball

AC Milan lifted their 50th major trophy into the Saudi Arabian sky on Monday night, and it couldn’t have come in better circumstances as they beat their city rivals Inter in a thrilling game.

Inter found themselves in complete control thanks to goals from Lautaro Martinez and Mehdi Taremi either side of the half-time whistle, and they were heading for a fourth straight Supercoppa Italiana triumph.

However, Milan never gave up and just like against Juventus in the semi-final they turned the game on its head in the second half. Theo Hernandez scored with a free-kick to halve the deficit, Christian Pulisic equalised with a lovely low shot and Tammy Abraham won it in the dying moments.

What it means is that Sergio Conceicao has become the fastest Milan head coach ever to win a trophy, beating the two main rivals to lift silverware after two games. But how did the Rossoneri triumph? Rohit Rajeev has the tactical analysis.

Milan’s shape

On the ball, Milan adopted a 2-3-5 system with the two centre-backs then Youssouf Fofana and Yunus Musah sitting in front of the defenders to absorb any counter-attacks that came from Inter.

Milan used a hybrid pressing system where the players higher up the pitch (Pulisic, Morata, Jimenez) cut off the passing lanes to Inter player while the midfielders and the defensive line protected their zones.

If Inter had breached Milan’s man-marking then a ball-oriented pressing would be adopted, and as we can see here a narrow system is adopted where the centre is protected.

To declutter Milan’s tight zonal press, Inter would often pass to Sommer inviting Alvaro Morata and other Milan players to press, creating space between the lines. Inter then would suddenly increase the speed of transition and exploit the space.

Stopping the threat

In the derby that Milan won 2-1 in September, one of the main threats that Inter had was Dimarco and Bastoni, who would overlap/underlap and create chaos for opposition.

The counteract this, Conceicao instructed Jimenez to man mark Dimarco and Musah to mark Bastoni. This meant that Inter were not able to create their usual wide overloads and got 3v3’d in the wide areas with Emerson Royal joining the mix.

To play out of the press that Inter deployed, Milan would use third-man runs just like in the clip below.

A big chance came in the first half, when the positional intelligence of Reijnders could be seen. The Dutchman positioned himself between two defenders to receive the ball from Fofana but his shot was scuffed wide.

Unlike against Juventus who used a narrow mid block, Inter used a man-oriented defensive system. To stretch this, the wingers would stay wide (unlike against Juve) and create gaps for runs like that of Reijnders in the half spaces.

As mentioned above, the role of Jimenez and Musah meant that Milan’s defensive structure was a 5-3-2 as we can see.

The second half

Milan were down 2-0 and Rafael Leao was brought on for Jimenez. Milan employed a pressing trap where each passing option for the Inter player on the ball is man-marked and Asllani is left open.

As soon as the pass is played Morata challenges him, wins the ball and Leao sprints forward and gets fouled.

The Leao substitution was somewhat of a risk that paid off. Milan maintained a 5-3-2 system despite bringing Jimenez off, with Pulisic sitting back in the midfield and Leao acting as a second striker.

However, the Portuguese was played further up the pitch and this meant that Inter would often find a spare man on Milan’s left flank which resulted in the Taremi and Dumfries chances late on. It was a risk that Conceicao was willing to take, and as we know it paid off.

Quick vertical passes were played to Leao and he gave Bisseck a torrid time. He beat the German on a 1v1 and squared it for Reijnders, who forced Bastoni to block a shot with his face.

Conceicao then brought on Tammy Abraham and Ruben Loftus-Cheek to play a flat 4-4-2. Abraham and Morata would play further up the pitch and pin the centre-backs and keep them on their toes.

Tammy’s run towards the near post created the space for Pulisic to receive the ball and score with what was a brilliant touch and accurate low shot across his body. Smart centre-forward play.

Again man-marking became the undoing for Inter when Calabria made a run to the wide right area pulling Bastoni out, which opened up a gap.

The telepathic communication between Pulisic and Leao meant that the Portuguese winger knew where to make the run and the American knew he would be there. From it, the winning goal was born.

Another understated point comes ever before the pass into the box. Pulisic was telling Calabria to go towards his right side with hand movements. Calabria saw this and Bastoni had to follow him and create that space.

Comparison with Fonseca

To compare the different styles of the Portuguese coaches, we have compiled data available from the Serie A website. From the average position map available on SofaScore we can see that Fonseca was more keen on protecting the centre of the pitch while Leao and Emerson Royal kept the width.

Under Conceicao the players seemed to be a lot closer together, forming a compact block with a slight tilt to the right, which as we know was to counteract Dimarco and Bastoni overloading their left flank.

Perhaps it also shows the difference that Fonseca was more into zonal marking while Conceicao used hybrid marking with shades more of man marking higher up the pitch as we saw earlier

We can see with these stats that Fonseca was someone clearly possessed with the idea of playing an aesthetic style and keeping the ball on the ground. Fonseca’s Milan had more passes completed and less long balls attempted whereas Conceicao has more long balls attempted.

Both teams had the same amount of possession at 44%, but even though Fonseca’s Milan had more passes completed Conceicao’s Milan had more passes completed in the final 3rd. Dribbling is virtually the same.

Conclusion

Conceicao is simplifying things while Fonseca tried to play an aesthetic game that simply does not suit this squad’s skillset. It was a brave attempt from the management to try with Fonseca but kudos to them to cut their losses and swallow their pride and admit their mistakes.

The timing of appointing Conceicao and winning the Supercoppa was a much needed boost. but now the real test begins. Cagliari and Como are the next two opponents and they will pose a different challenge: a low block that the team must show they can break through.