The spark of Milan-Lecce arrives at minute 35 and 40 seconds. Alvaro Morata he goes to get the ball behind the midfield line, controls it, turns towards the goal, sees space and takes off with the ball aiming for Coulibaly, who knocks him down: foul and free kick for Milan. The Spaniard gets up immediately and quickly puts the ball back into play. The analysis is of Corriere dello Sportwhich praises the former Atletico Madrid and underlines its importance from every point of view.
Few gestures for the turning point
In practice, in just a few technical gestures, the number 7 put together everything that his teammates had lacked in the first half hour of the game: desire to make an impact, quick thinking and execution. All in one midfield action. But this was enough to ignite Milan. A minute and a half later: free kick from Theo, header from Morata and 1-0 for Milan. In 5′ the San Siro scoreboard reads 3-0. It all started with a seemingly harmless action in midfield.
Even on the field
Morata also changed Milan on the pitch. The inclusion in the attacking midfield position was the tactical turning point useful to first surprise Inter and then to undermine Lecce’s resistance. The Spaniard is demonstrating high-level football intelligence: he knows when to run to press, he understands when to lower himself to receive the ball, he senses when it is necessary to stay closer to Abraham.