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Opinion

AC Milan are the best team in Europe and it’s not even close

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6th December, 2020
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Forget Liverpool. Forget Bayern Munich. Forget Paris Saint-Germain.

There’s a new force to be reckoned with in European football and that team happens to be AC Milan.

Straight away I know readers will think to themselves that this author is biased as I need to admit that I’ve been a Milan supporter for roughly 15 years now.

I’ve witnessed the many highs and for the past eight years the many lows which have forced the club into mediocrity for far too long for such a prestigious team in football history.

For years Milan fans have had to experience so much pain watching their club suffer week after week. With no direction, no big spending, signings of old free agents, hirings of very inexperienced managers and countless sackings of managers… it shouldn’t come as a surprise as to why Milan have failed to qualify for the Champions League since 2013.

I have watched many Milan matches and these past few years have been quite frankly so boring and dull to watch because we lacked something fundamental that every club needs to have – an identity.

Finally, AC Milan has an identity after the signing of manager Stefano Pioli who I initially wanted out the door as soon as he was appointed due to his lacklustre performances for previous clubs such as city rivals Inter Milan.

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At the start though, I was proven to be right as the same old Milan showed up displaying inconsistent results, with the 5-0 loss to Atalanta in January showed that the seven time European champions had hit rock bottom. Surely there was no coming back from that disaster…

Then Covid-19 struck which resulted in a three-month suspension for the season with the remaining ten games still to be played. This proved to be a blessing in disguise for Milan, as it gave Pioli and his coaching staff the opportunity to galvanise the group and work on the philosophy and style of football he wished to implement into the side.

Since the restart, Milan are undefeated in 21 Serie A matches and have lost one game in the last 31 games across all competitions which is truly remarkable.

The football has been so good to watch because it is made to be so effortless with possession-based passing, brilliant link-up play, deadly overlapping on the flanks and intelligent switches of play to spread defences to leave them exposed.

Franck Kessie has been an absolute monster in the midfield, playing as a box-to-box player who never seems to run out of stamina. The most impressive player has been former Arsenal player and Algerian international Ismael Bennacer who is in the conversation for MVP without a doubt.

His passing ability and the way he controls the midfield by always finding ways to get touches of the ball in each passage of play is very exciting to watch. Keep an eye out for him and watch some highlights if you get the chance.

The midfield duo have been an excellent partnership protecting the back four as well as linking up with the attack which has been key and shows the chemistry the team has developed.

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It has to be said though that the difference maker for Milan’s incredible turnaround has been the signing of 39-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The Swede has transformed this team with his winning mentality on and off the pitch, staring down his teammates if they are not performing to the highest standard or even make the slightest mistake.

This is so important for this core group of young players who are the youngest squad in Europe’s top five leagues which is even more astounding, with an average age of 24.

The secret to Zlatan’s success and why he is top goalscorer with ten goals is due to Pioli’s tactical change to build the team around Ibrahimovic with a lot of pace such as Rafael Leao, Brahim Diaz, Jens Petter Hauge and Theo Hernandez to provide a lot of service in the box.

The football Milan play reminds me a bit of Maurizio Sarri’s Napoli side who even Pep Guardiola had a lot of admiration for. Milan are finally able to control games with fluent passing and proper build up play from defence to attack which has been missing for almost a decade.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic of AC Milan

Zlatan Ibrahimovic of AC Milan (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

It’s not just the great football Milan are showcasing though, it’s the hunger and grit to win every 50/50 challenge and not leaving anything on the pitch which is so impressive for such a young and experienced outfit.

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It is this new identity that has people watching closely and taking notice. The same cannot be said for Juventus as Andrea Pirlo is struggling to assemble a team which is not only playing underwhelming but also do not have the defensive identity from years past which was that spine at the back which loved to keep clean sheets.

Club legend Paolo Maldini, CEO Ivan Gazidis and chairman Paolo Scaroni must be given credit for sticking to their plan of bringing youth into the squad and identifying players with a lot of potential to sign so that Financial Fair Play does not become an issue as it did a few years ago.

A lot of top clubs in Europe have been underperforming this year. I feel as though Bayern, Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool have dropped off a gear or two but have so much talent available that they are able to find ways to win without playing the football they want to be playing, especially for Jürgen Klopp.

Injuries and COVID-19 cases have been partly to blame for this, but Milan have also suffered from positive cases to their stats such as Zlatan and Gianluigi Donnarumma who is having a tremendous season – that isn’t stopping them from exciting purists of the game. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Juventus have been very disappointing and have a lot of work ahead of them to get back to their very best.

Yes, the challenges are still to come for this young Milan team as it will be interesting to see what happens if a couple of results don’t fall their way. Will the group start to doubt themselves and lose confidence? Will the introduction of thousands of fans into the San Siro force them to crumble under the pressure?

Will they be the same side once they play in the Champions League? Those are a few questions that will be answered over time…but for now, the football Milan are playing is nothing short of exceptional, and that’s something that needs to be respected.

Football is a simple game. AC Milan are well and truly demonstrating that.

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