Inter 0-3 AC Milan: Five things we learned – Jovic, Theo and Maignan huge | OneFootball

AC Milan beat their bitter rivals Inter by three goals to nil on Wednesday night, and the Rossoneri will now face Bologna or Empoli in the Coppa Italia final.

The season has been full of mixed emotions for everybody related to Milan, but one of the positives was that the Rossoneri finally found a way to get the better of city rivals Inter after struggling for a couple of seasons.

This season, the two have played five times, twice in the league, twice in the cup and once in the Supercoppa Italiana, with Milan prevailing in three out of the games and drawing twice.

To top it off, this win was both huge as the scoreline was 3-0 at FT and it resulted in Milan reaching the Coppa Italia final, something they haven’t done in the past seven years. Now, they can dream of winning it for the first time in more than 20 years, additionally, it will give the team a chance to win a second trophy.

In a season where Milan have struggled a lot both in Serie A and the Champions League, if they win the Coppa Italia, it will also mean that the team will qualify for the Europa League next season, which at this point in time looks difficult through the Serie A standings.

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But let’s focus on the game against Inter for the time being. Truth be told, the Nerazzurri started off the game better than their city rivals and were the better team in the first half, but struggled in front of goal and failed to threaten Mike Maignan.

Milan then opened up the score with their first big chance, with Luka Jovic heading the ball into the back of the net following a lovely cross from Alex Jimenez.

In the second half, Milan grew into the game further and started creating plenty of chances, which resulted in Jovic picking up his second goal in the 50th minute to double his side’s lead.

Inter were never going to give up, but the Milan defence did well to contain them and deserve credit for such. Their only ‘real’ big chance to claw things back came when Stefan de Vrij headed the ball well after a corner kick, but Maignan showcased great reflexes to save the shot and keep a clean sheet.

In the 85th minute, Tijjani Reijnders killed off the game with a 3rd goal after a lovely combination that sent Milan into the final, where the Rossoneri will most likely face Bologna on the 14th of May.

Here are five things we learned:

1. 3-4-3 gives Milan defensive stability

The formation has been tried a few times now by Sergio Conceicao and overall it has been really positive for the team, with the negative result coming against Atalanta. Even then though, it was not a fault of the system, but rather sloppy individual mistakes.

Against Inter, the defence was up to the challenge and excluding maybe a couple of dangerous chances, it was smooth sailing for the majority of the game. It was also refreshing to see Fikayo Tomori and Matteo Gabbia with such commanding performances, whilst Pavlovic also did well, although he was a bit sloppy at times when on the ball.

Photo by Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images

Alex Jimenez and Theo Hernandez also did well to track back, and it was a masterclass in the end by Conceicao and his men.

2. Maignan steps up when it matters

The Frenchman has had a mixed season, to say the least, and Milan needed his best version if they were to beat Inter and reach the final.

Despite not needing him that much in the first half, Maignan did well to get off his line and collect a lot of balls, whilst he also distributed the ball well and managed the tempo superbly in the second half when his team was ahead.

In the crucial moment, when he had to make the save from de Vrij’s header, he did so brilliantly to keep the 2 goal cushion for his side.

A leader’s performance by the keeper and a performance that showcases how good he actually is, but he will need to be consistently at this level in the future too.

3. Pulisic and Leao struggle

There weren’t really poor performers on the night for Milan, but the sense is that Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic could’ve done a bit more in the attacking phase.

Both worked hard in the defensive phase and tracked back a lot, especially the Portuguese, as it was evident he wanted to help as much as he can – something which made Theo’s life easier as he always had his teammate to help him cover the empty spaces.

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But in attack, Leao was slightly disappointing and rather frustrating, really. He often failed to get past his man, and on the few occasions he could’ve escaped from the defender and ended up 1-v-1 against the keeper, he failed to be decisive.

One situation in particular was when his first touch was really poor and didn’t allow him to burst towards goal on the counter. If his initial touch was better, he would’ve easily beaten the defender for pace, but he failed to.

Eventually, the Portuguese did get an assist on the third goal, but the feeling was that Milan could’ve scored a few more if the efficiency was there from Leao.

4. Mamma Mia Jovic

The Serb has been looking great lately and was on fire against Inter.

He was heavily involved in the opener as he dropped back and distributed the ball well towards the flank and then found the space in the box to finish off the attack himself. Textbook stuff there from the number 9.

Then he reacted well on the corner to slot it in for his second goal of the game and the second for Milan. Following the brace, he continued to combine well and show desire, as well as dropping deep into his own half to keep the ball.

Furthermore, he also showed great composure even when surrounded by Inter players and managed to keep the ball and switch the flanks easily, which was very pleasant to watch.

If he has a couple of more games like this one until the end of the season, Milan might think of keeping him around next season as well, but a lot will depend on the coach.

5. Conceicao in the search for a strong finale

The coach has been speculated to leave Milan pretty much since he joined, barring the first month or so of his tenure. But he has shown some positive qualities, as well as winning the Super Cup after two impressive comebacks.

Then, unfortunately, the team dropped out of the Champions League after three really poor games, two of which were in the play-offs against Feyenoord and then the downtrend continued in the league as the Rossoneri currently sit 9th and seem to be conceding first and always early in most of the games.

But there’s the element of character that the Portuguese coach has brought, and the fact is that the team has reacted well several times after being behind in the score, with a lot of those times even resulting in a win.

If Milan were to win the Coppa Italia, Conceicao will also have managed to win two trophies in less than six months, whilst also achieving a much-needed Europa League qualification.

So without a doubt when the management sit around the table at the end of the season it will be a very interesting review of Conceicao’s work and the coach will be looking to achieve that Coppa Italia dream which might just tempt the management to give him a full pre-season and a transfer window and see how thing might play out.