Red cards and flops – Milan abandoned by leaders again in a big game

In the aftermath of yet another derby defeat for AC Milan against Inter, the question once again has to be asked about where the leaders of the team were.

This morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) looks back not only at last night’s game but also the two legs against Roma and the other difficult moments in the last couple of seasons.

Yesterday too, as in the Europa League, all the Rossoneri’s key players appeared beaten on a psychological level before they were outplayed and lost 2-1.

The big flop

The paper talks about the performance of Rafael Leao which, once again, is hard to put a positive spin on. Just like against Roma he did not have an impact, except in the final minutes when he was relocated to the left and manages to put in some dangerous balls.

The fault is not only his: his position on the pitch as a lone striker did not help him so questions must be asked of Stefano Pioli. As a centre-forward, a role he hadn’t played for a long time, Leao remained removed from the attacking build-up for almost the entire match, at least until he was moved to his area of ​​expertise.

It was a reckless move by Pioli who forced his best player into a role he was clearly not meant to play in. However, it is also clear that from someone like Leao – in matches like this and in crucial moments – something more is always expected in terms of attitude.

Sadness and anger

Leao was not the only player to disappoint on the pitch at San Siro. Mike Maignan appeared to be caught off guard by Marcus  Thuram’s goal and Tomori also had a very confused performance, as he did in Rome.

On a mental level, perhaps both Theo Hernandez and Davide Calabria disappointed most of all as they got two red cards – which will keep them out of the match against Juventus on Saturday – in the final minutes. In the excitement of such an important match on a psychological level, more calm is expected from two leaders in the dressing room.

Finally there is the Olivier Giroud case: yesterday he was more of a spectator than a protagonist, starting from the bench. His arrival added some more concerns for the Nerazzurri defence but overall he didn’t manage to change much.

The image at the end of the match is of a sad and disconsolate Giroud who probably knows that this will have been the last derby. From the point of view of commitment and application, even on bad days, he never held back but AC Milan will have to do it without him next year.