Champions League Playoff: AC Milan vs PSV Eindhoven

Montolivo hasn't been that good today

God damnit Montolivo

Niang on for Boateng

POOOOOOOOOOOOOOLIIIII ALMOST

Poli!!!! that was good one two

MY GOD! ES WITH A FANCY ATTEMPT

Oh well! I'll take this result. Now we just need to ensure we don't concede at the San Siro.

it was ok game but i would have loved to see niang and poli right from start. PSV were super elegant in build up play and attack but they also gave us lot of space to exploit.

this game is going to be really open at san siro. its a pity we didnt try to score another. it would have given us more advantage.

FT: 1-1

ES and Abbiati have been sensational tonight, Abbiati shouldn't really get bashed for that goal. He had an absolutely sensational first half

I've noticed that Montolivo is more suited to sitting in front of the defense like he did last season. After NDJ's exit, he recycled possession well and drove the team forward

Balo has been immense at creating chances for ES, sent him on goal about half a dozen times to day lol. Shame that his early effort rattled the crossbar

Poli has been great since his introduction, deserved a goal towards the end

Niang is still a bit raw but added much needed pace on the wing

Abate has been good too, albeit he made a few mistakes too. Though it is his first game after a month long injury, and he didn't have any training in pre season

All in all, it was a match with ups and downs. They dominated us in the first half, we retaliated with our own football in the second.

What is most important is that precious away goal, we payed our respects in Eindhoven, but now its time we whittle, break and eradicate whatever chance that PSV seems to have. They'll feel the fury and passion of the San Siro next week, and these youngsters will have their first away experience in the CL. Next week it wont be us that'll will annoy them, it'll be the San Siro

If we cant kill them at home, then we don't deserve the CL

Della Valle: "Tonight there is (was) a European game that we [Fiorentina] deserved to play."

Della Valle pls

Man what an exciting game xD I was nervous for the whole time...

See Jesp? Boa was sloppy but he didn't cost us much he was ok (for his latest standards) And Muntari worked really hard, had a good game, only 1 rash foul which was to hold back the counter so it wasn't something stupid to do.

Urby actually impressed at LB tonight, would like to see more performances of his (defensively) like this. Our CBs were awful, Mexpata is good but with mexes being so unfit it was much of a gamble to play him starter tonight.

What I did like about us in this game was the SES-Balo bromance starting to give its fruits, in the 2nd half they paired up beautifully and deserved at least 1 goal D:

We could've won maybe if Allegri had subbed on Niang and Poli earlier... they had a big impact when coming on, but oh well... good ole max for you..

Anyway, at San Siro we shall finish it off for sure! Forza Milan  

JespSwe wrote:

Il Diavolo wrote:

El Shaarawy wrote:MILAN OFFICIAL XI: Abbiati; Abate, Mexes, Zapata, Urby; Montolivo, De Jong, Muntari; Boateng, Balotelli, El Shaarawy.

PSV OFFICIAL XI: Zoet; Brenet, Bruma, Rekik, Willems; Schaars, Maher; Park, Wijnaldum, Depay; Matavz.

Damn it Allegri! Why no Poli? I swear if Muntari screws up I'm gonna kill both him and Allegri!

its unbelievable. allegri said that muntari cant play against verona. thats why.

why the hell he is thinking about verona now when we have such an important game as PSV. seriously????

no, Muntari was unfitted because of he stopped the referee when he was giving a yallow card at Balotelli agaist Roma..not for racism or another thing

Boateng as a winger breaks my heart, and he gets to play nearly all game too! Niang getting pissed at for a cameo appearence and a HORRIBLE 1 on 1. I am tired of the cameo-show Allegri is giving Niang, either you decide to give him a chance or we should have given him to Genoa ffs.

If Boateng is our best winger we might aswell go 4-3-1-2.

Montolivo sometimes ends up dribbling several players and gets into a great position to shoot, but then he passes the ball out wide!?

Oh God Allegri you suck with subbs!

We looked in terrible shape today (Mexes and Montolivo especially look off fitness), so i'm quite happy with the 1-1. We will be in much better shape by next wednesday, not to mention these psv kids won't be able to handle the epicness that is the san siro on a big european night... at least relatively big.

Despite the lackluster performance, there are quite a few positives I see:

1) SES and Balo are playing together much better than last season. Lots of passing between the 2. SES could have bagged a hatrick today

2) Abate has learned how to cross!!!

3) Boateng tracked back today, and only had one bad shot. He doesn't add as much as he should, but at least he is cutting out the bad mistakes he is famous for

4) Niang and Poli looked good - much better than Muntari or Boateng. My only concern is if Max is willing to play Poli, NDJ, and Montolivo at the same time. I don't think Allegri believes that Poli can play Muntari's role on the left of midfield, as we haven't seen a Monty-Poli-NDJ midfield all preseason. I hope I am wrong, however.

5) we will get 30 million in total (uefa + tv deals) if we reach group stages. I can guarentee you we will buy a LCM and CB, by far the 2 biggest holes in our squad.

Adem Maher would be PERFECT.

Match Review:

A draw is a solid result, especially with an away goal. Although, not winning this game may come back to bite us in 8 days.

Defence
Abate struggled with Memphis all game in defence, but at least Ignazio helped out up forward. The same cannot be said for Emanuelson, who had an awful game in every aspect. Constant should've played. I really can't wait for MDS to return! SES spent so much time making runs for Emanuelson, only to "receive" (I use that word loosely) passes that went out or were way off target. Zapata was competent enough, but Mexes' lack of pace was very worrying.

Abbiati had an absolutely shocking moment in dealing with what was a powerful, but easily saveable, strike. All he had to do was smash that ball out to the side, but instead he palmed it straight to Matavz.

Most concerning is that PSV were allowed far, far too many chances. A better side would've destroyed us today with the sheer number and quality of chances created. Even from the first minute, there was a beautifully worked move that would've been a certain goal had the striker got a better touch on that and hit it half a metre to the left.

Midfield
Muntari offers nothing. What's more, he is a red card liability. He is also a horrible passer. Conversely, good things happened for us every time De Jong passed to Montolivo. Every single time that happened, we retained the ball and moved forward quickly. Allegri's substitutions were very questionable as well. Wasn't it obvious to everyone watching that Muntari, not De Jong, needed to come off for Poli? Poli linked well with Niang and should've started over Muntari.

Forwards
SES worked tirelessly. He was absolutely superb tonight. Not many wingers do so much defensive and offensive work in one game at such a high standard. And might I reiterate that this was while he was working with the unusable Urby Emanuelson and the anonymous Kevin-Prince Boateng.

On that note, Boateng is simply not a threat and is a wasted spot in the team when he is played up front. He does not readily look to make assists and his finishing is well below the standard of even an average quality striker. Not only that, but his replacement, Niang, offers far more dynamism and speed than KPB does - ironically, two traits that helped originally establish the latter in our Scudetto-winning team. He needs to be moved back into the 3 man midfield or benched. What Niang does so well is take players away from Balotelli. When Balotelli comes into the game, Milan become twice as dangerous. Boateng loafs around in between the lines or on the wing and does not draw any defenders away from Balotelli - who was very well shackled by PSV's youthful, inexperienced, but promising CB pairing.

Niang's introduction obviously came about 10-15 minutes late. That's not to say that Niang had a stellar cameo - he didn't - but it was clear that something needed to be improved in the final third and Allegri was woefully slow to act. It might've been 2-1 our way in the end if he had moved sooner. Instead we are going to have a super-tough game on our hands against a highly-motivated, formidable opponent.

Lastly, I acknowledge the comparative fitness of the sides. Obviously the team has fitness concerns and I expect this issue to resolve itself with more game time.

Forza Milan!

Sad for Abbiati. This pretty much sums up his career, a lot of great saves and that unfortunate blunder to drag him down.

I don't accept the reasoning that a few great saves in one half compensate for one game-changing screw-up in another half. At this level you are expected to be reliable above all else. It is always difficult to find fault with a goalkeeper who does the basics right.

Pes91 wrote:

JespSwe wrote:

Il Diavolo wrote:Damn it Allegri! Why no Poli? I swear if Muntari screws up I'm gonna kill both him and Allegri!

its unbelievable. allegri said that muntari cant play against verona. thats why.

why the hell he is thinking about verona now when we have such an important game as PSV. seriously????

no, Muntari was unfitted because of he stopped the referee when he was giving a yallow card at Balotelli agaist Roma..not for racism or another thing

i know muntari is not playing against verona, but still, this PSV game was more of a priority than verona game.

Forza wrote:I don't accept the reasoning that a few great saves in one half compensate for one game-changing screw-up in another half. At this level you are expected to be reliable above all else. It is always difficult to find fault with a goalkeeper who does the basics right.

amen to that. and besides, it isn't a league where a blunder can bail you, because its a season. we simply can't afford slips ups now in playoffs, a blunder like that can get us knocked out. i agree totally what u said forza.

and thats why abbiati is first team goalkeeper, thats why he is expected to not make those basic errors.

Plz all I ask is no Boateng for RW/RM, plzzz Allegri He can come in as a sub

Eivindo wrote:Boateng as a winger breaks my heart, and he gets to play nearly all game too! Niang getting pissed at for a cameo appearence and a HORRIBLE 1 on 1. I am tired of the cameo-show Allegri is giving Niang, either you decide to give him a chance or we should have given him to Genoa ffs.

If Boateng is our best winger we might aswell go 4-3-1-2.

Montolivo sometimes ends up dribbling several players and gets into a great position to shoot, but then he passes the ball out wide!?

Oh God Allegri you suck with subbs!

i agree on it totally bro. i gotta feeling that boateng has stamped his authority. he used to boast in media that even he has played as DM he is a playmaker!!!

and i agree, its not like Niang is debuting, he has been with us for a season, and by now he should be getting some handful of full time games.

Niang's pace on the wing and with his current form could have done so much damage.

and i agree on montolivo i felt the same. he was amazing getting past 2-3 players and he had like time to take a shot on goal, but then he passes lol... and there are times where he should be passing and he shoots lol, well monto has to work on that too.


boateng is a pain... i cant see him other than b2b, and even as a first team player, i have doubts whether he deserves first team football.

boateng said to media last season on his terrible form - i have yet to be 100% fully fit... and he said that when we were almost close to finishing first half season
well how many games does he needs to be 100% fit... im pretty sure when he is with melissa satta in the bed he wont be making those kind of lame a.. excuse!

Eivindo wrote:Plz all I ask is no Boateng for RW/RM, plzzz Allegri :(He can come in as a sub

if i was a coach, he would be on bench, and he gotta prove that he deserves first team football. he has been really slack for a long time now...

Boateng in RW>Boateng in CAM, though that's not saying much.

Regarding the match, first the good things. El Shaarawy and Balotelli linked up beautifully, this partnership can take world football by storm. There were talks of them being incompatible with each other but this match showed how promising the duo can be, this is huge for both Milan and Italy. Zapata was solid, though Mexes' lack of pace was exposed a number of times, he was there to clear the ball in sticky situations. Abate had some trouble up on his flank but was generally good both attacking and defensively. A 1-1 draw away is a good result for us.

For the negatives, just how fcking useless is Sulley fcking Ali fcking Muntari? I MEAN WHAT THE HELL DID HE CONTRIBUTE IN THE MATCH? It was like playing with 10 men yesterday with him on the pitch. Emanuelson was poor, yeah he was not good enough for freakin Fulham and he is starting for us in this game Seriously where was Constant? He would have been better, you know we are not in the best of situations when we think Constant would be a better solution Astounding that the Depolivo midfield have never played, Poli's introduction gave us an attacking impetus, he should be a starter in midfield with Montolivo in front of the defence and De Jong doing the dirty work in the right ala Gattuso. Boateng was a mixed bag and Niang's introduction also improved our attacking, Allegri again reverting back to late subs, that was frustrating. The number of chances we let PSV create was scary, we'd be dead if we faced an elite team. Speaking of which we also missed our fair share of chances, especially toward the end, Allegri is right, we might really regret those.

Also I said it before, we should have looked for a new GK this window to suceed Abbiati, this is no kneejerk.

AC Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri has rued his side's failure to take their chances during the 1-1 Champions League playoff draw with PSV on Tuesday.

The Rossoneri took the lead through Stefan El Shaarawy's header in the first half but were forced to settle for a draw after Tim Matavz nodded in an equaliser following a fumbled save from Christian Abbiati.

Milan spurned a handful of chances to score a priceless second goal, with El Shaarawy and Philippe Mexes spurning good opportunities, and Allegri admits the tie could have been all but wrapped up had his side been more ruthless in attack.

He told Sky Sport Italia:"We struggled a little at the start, losing the ball and allowing them easy chances.

"In the second half we controlled the ball better and above all defended better, as in the first half we were too wide between the sections and that allowed passes through.

"It’s a shame, as we had so many chances to seal the win even after the equaliser, so now it’s all open ahead of the second leg.

"If we had won and especially with a two-goal cushion then we would be looking at this match differently.

"Now we have to think about Saturday’s Serie A opener with Verona and only after that worry about the second leg."

AC Milan striker Stephan El Shaarawy has admitted he is "very satisfied" to have ended his goal drought after scoring in the 1-1 draw with PSV in the Champions League playoff first leg on Tuesday.

The Italy international netted a potentially-invaluable away goal against the Dutch outfit in Eindhoven, heading home Ignazio Abate's cross on 15 minutes.

And although El Shaarawy is disappointed to have not held out for the victory, the 20-year-old admitted he was relieved to find the net for the first time for his club since February.

"It’s only normal that we were behind in terms of match fitness, but we had good concentration and intensity," he told reporters after the match.

"The only regret is that we were unable to hold on for the win.

"It was my first goal in an official match since the derby and it’s also my first header, so it’s very satisfying."

Tim Matavz levelled in the second half for PSV to leave the tie neatly poised ahead of next week's return leg at San Siro.

Phillip Cocu feels PSV dominated proceedings in the 1-1 Champions League play-off draw against AC Milan at the Philips Stadion on Tuesday and was pleased with their performance.

Tim Matavz's strike on the hour mark allowed the Dutch giants to draw level after Stephan El Shaarawy opened the scoring for the visitors early in the first half.

The Eindhoven outfit missed a number of chances to take a lead to the San Siro in a week's time, but Cocu was still full of praise for his side's showing against the Italian giants.

"I'm definitely satisfied by the way we've played. We've dominated the game," Cocu said to reporters.

"From the first minute we've put a lot of pressure on Milan. Our defence pushed forward. We have also created a lot of chances. So I'm very happy with that."

Cocu also praised the performance of Korean veteran Park Ji-Sung, who was a constant threat to the Milan defence in his first game since his return to PSV this summer.

"I know what kind of player Park is. He is the kind of player we might need during the game. That's why he was in the starting eleven," Cocu said.

"He has a good insight into the game and gets in the right positions on the pitch. On the wing, between the defence and sometimes even in the centre of midfield.

"He is technically gifted and is able to play together in the team. He also ensures calmness in the team."

The return at San Siro is scheduled to take place on Wednesday August 28.