Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 AC Milan: Five things we learned – a serious wake up call

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·30 January 2025

Dinamo Zagreb 2-1 AC Milan: Five things we learned – a serious wake up call

AC Milan fell to an embarrassing defeat in Croatia last night as Dinamo Zagreb killed any chances of a Champions League top-eight finish, or did they?

We can credit Dinamo here, stating that they did the work themselves. However, it can also be argued that Milan were just terrible on the evening and not up to the occasion, whilst the hosts proved that they very much were.

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After just 20 minutes, Zagreb took the lead through Baturin, and they did not stop there, threatening the goal several times more after that. Then, the game fell past the Rossoneri as Yunus Musah was sent off for a second yellow.

Despite this, some halftime changes made things seem slightly better, and the Diavolo eventually equalised through Christian Pulisic. It would not count for much though, as the hosts took the lead again through Pjaca just seven minutes later.

Chances after that were limited, and despite a claim for a penalty which was ruled out due to Leao appearing to foul a defender, Milan limped towards the full-time whistle and in turn, out of the top eight.

A win could have been worth as much as €25 million to the Rossoneri, so the failure to progress automatically is a deep frustration for the club. Let’s look at five key things that decided the game.

1. Lacking composure

Musah managed to earn himself two yellow cards in short succession with the second yellow being a ridiculous one, as he went into a spat with his opponent which earned him a red card, thus leaving his side a goal and a man down.

We recently mentioned that the American has seen his playing time increase under Conceicao and his versatility can be valuable, but instead of gaining momentum, he acted stupidly and let his team down.

2. Unusual error-plagued the game

Matteo Gabbia has been arguably the best Milan defender since he was recalled from loan around a year ago now and has been crucial in many key games for the Rossoneri.

Against Zagreb, however, he had a night to forget as he slipped and gifted the host the opening goal and was then subbed off at half-time. To top it off, he also picked up an injury and will most likely not be available for the game against Inter.

Nothing much more to add, because the Italian has really been stable in the past year and it is unfortunate that he slipped.

3. Contrasting performances

With Gabbia being subbed off at half-time, Tomori ended up alongside Pavlovic in the heart of Milan’s defence, but he too, similar to Gabbia, had a disastrous night. His marking was dreadful on Dinamo’s second goal, allowing Pjaca to get a touch on the ball and send it in the back of the net without any pressure from the Englishman.

Truth be told, Tomori has struggled to be consistently good since the Scudetto-winning season and has been struggling to be good as a whole since the start of this season, so Milan will continue to search for a stable centre-back pairing halfway through the season. Their faults are, at this point, pretty self-explanatory.

Photo by Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto via Getty Images

On the other hand, Pavlovic has been reborn since the Girona game as he followed up with a brilliant performance against Parma and was the best player on the pitch against Dinamo. If Gabbia had not given up the goal and got injured then the two could’ve brought more stability at the back, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

The Serbian has nothing to be ashamed of as he made several good tackles and interceptions at the back, as well as bringing his energy to the attacking phase in the later stages of the game when he acted as a striker and tried hard to get Milan level.

Unfortunately, his teammates couldn’t provide any meaningful crosses into the box, but Pavlovic is certainly establishing himself as a pillar in the heart of Milan’s defence.

4. Leaders fail to lead

In a must-win against a struggling side, you’d expect players such as Rafael Leao, Alvaro Morata, Tijjani Reijnders, Theo Hernandez and Pulisic to lead the way, but the fans were again left disappointed as all but on were not on the needed level.

Pulisic was the only one to make something happen with a lovely goal, but it stops there with Leao and Morata really struggling, whilst Theo also lacked the energy to burst forward.

Reijnders, who has been in superb form this season, was also not at his best as he looked really tired. You can use fatigue as an argument for Leao and Theo too, with the lack of depth forcing them to play constantly, but they were subbed off early against Parma and in a big game like this, you’d expect them to push a little bit harder to help their side perform better.

The fact of the matter is Milan lack the leaders in these delicate matches, and they have for some time now.

When things are clicking, the Rossoneri can beat everyone it seems, but when the situation is not ideal, the lack of a leader is felt instantly and the Conceicao effect seems to also be fading although, again, that red card was not helpful at all.

5. Wake up call for the management

We can blame certain players or coaches all we want, but the fact is that all of these people have been brought by the management who are now scrambling to fix their summer mistakes which at this stage seems to be all of them.

Photo by AC Milan

Alvaro Morata and Tammy Abraham were both brought in the summer and both struggle to contribute with goals or assist and are barely finding the space to shoot at all.

Emerson Royal has been a disaster on the right flank and Pavlovic just only started to show his potential again.

Theo has no deputy and fatigue is probably a real concern for him. Whilst Pulisic and Leao have deputies, both Noah Okafor and Samuel Chukwueze are virtually useless as they offer next to nothing. As seen with Okafor missing a fairly good chance again last night to make it even, but he couldn’t even get a half-decent shot off with nobody pressuring him.

In the midfield, Reijnders and Youssouf Fofana are playing every game with no depth to help them recover and it is definitely showing.

Thus the management needs to acknowledge their mistakes, but sadly there’s no time and seemingly no willingness to spend big to fix the situation.

Rumours now are suggesting that Morata might be off to Galatasaray whilst Gimenez may arrive from Feyenoord, but given all of the issues listed above, it is hardly going to change things and with both the quarter-finals and the top 4 in the league in jeopardy, it is going to be tough for the Rossoneri fans until the end of the season.