MILAN
Maignan 6.5 – Decisive in the first minutes in keeping Milan in the game given the slow start for the Rossoneri and the turbo start for the Belgians. Absolutely blameless for Sabbe’s goal.
Emerson 5.5 – The least convincing in the first half on a defensive level, all the dangers for Maignan’s goal arise from his side or from a wrong reading by the Brazilian. More comfortable in the recovery, but not very incisive in his advances.
Cage 6 – He comes close to scoring from a set piece and puts a tuft of hair into it even on the occasion of Pulisic’s Olympic goal. Defensively, a consistent performance with personality. From 82′ Thiaw sv.
Tomori 6 – Completely restful game for the English centre-back: Brugge only hurt when they go out wide, while centrally they never actually become dangerous.
Theo Hernandez 6 – He finds the captain’s armband again and with this an implicit dose of confidence on the part of Fonseca: a good enough match and without high notes, the unstoppable train of the left wing is far away.
Fofana 6 – Good on a defensive level, not so much when you have to take an extra step in the opponent’s half of the field. He scores three shots towards the opponent’s goal but all are oversized and not by a little. The wrong man in the right place. From 75′ Musah sv.
Reijnders 8 – He doesn’t have a memorable first half, although he enters decisively in the episode of the red card to Onyedika. Master class of insertion in the second half, when he perfectly exploits an assist from the left by Okafor and from the right by Chukwueze.
Loftus Cheek 5 – Impalpable, in this role as an adapted right winger he seems like a fish out of water in both phases. Fonseca changes and the game is over. From 61′ Chukwueze 7 – He enters the game in a big way, also dishing out the assist to make it 3-1 for Reijnders.
Pulisic 7 – The Olympic goal is the only noteworthy play of the Rossoneri’s first half: perhaps lucky, certainly well beyond Milan’s merits, but in fact it scores the very important goal of the lead.
Morata 5 – The great absentee of the whole match: a truly dark performance from the Spaniard, who accomplishes nothing and is overshadowed by Camarda. From 75′ Camarda 6.5 – He comes close to breaking a sensational record a few minutes after entering the pitch: he sends a nice cross from Reijnders towards goal but VAR disallows everything for offside. A great shame, history had been made.
Leao 6 – Of the Rossoneri he is certainly the most dangerous in the first half, but not enough to win the last half hour of the match. And whoever replaces him changes the challenge. From 60′ Okafor 7 – After a handful of seconds he accelerates and puts a ball in the middle only to be sent to the bottom of the bag: Reijnders thanks him and the match changes face.
Trainer: Paulo Fonseca 6.5 – He tries to restore confidence and bite to Leao and Theo, but doesn’t succeed much. After the hour of play he makes up for it with substitutions: Okafor and Chukwueze come on and the match changes after a few seconds. However, a tiring victory against a 10-man Club Brugge for almost an hour is not a great feat and the psycho-physical status of the team at the moment cannot leave the fans calm, nor can the performance of a good part of its stars.
CLUB BRUGGE
Mignolet 5 – The former Liverpool goalkeeper is not free from blame for the behind goal, taken directly from a corner and on which he could have done much more. An error that directs the race.
Seys 5.5 – He struggles to counter Leao and Theo Hernandez on his side. He comes out after the break, also considering his yellow card. From 46′ Sabbe 6.5 – He enters as best he could, signing the temporary 1-1. However, he was also missed by Okafor in the action for Milan’s new lead.
Mechele 6 – Morata follows with a shadow, limiting him in the best way and not only in the penalty area. He deserves sufficiency.
Ordonez 6 – Positive performance in his area, with some offensive initiative. On one of these occasions, in the first 45 minutes, he hit the crossbar. More suffering after the break.
De Cuyper 5.5 – He made himself respected against Emerson Royal, when Milan decided to move on from him instead of relying on ‘Theao’. He drops a lot in the second half of the game, when he actually starts the action to make it 3-1.
Jashari 5.5 – It should help Vanaken in the setup phase, but compared to his partner he is less successful from this point of view. From 83′ Nielsen sv.
Onyedika 4.5 – He ruins a previously orderly performance, with a harsh intervention on Reijnders which leads to a red card and the consequent numerical inferiority of the Belgians for more than one half.
Vanaken 6 – Good impact in the midfield, recovering several balls which he then throws to his teammates forward with fair precision more in the first than in the second half.
Talbi 6 – A couple of ideas just before the break, in a test in which he mainly helped Seys in containing Leao and Theo Hernandez. From 46′ Vetlesen 6.5 – Excellent impact on the match, finishing for Sabbe in the action that allows the Belgians to equalize.
Jutgla 5.5 – An opportunity and little else for the centre-forward, not involved much both during the Belgians’ excellent start and, even more so, after the expulsion. From 70′ Skoras 6 – Few opportunities to show off, entering with the result already addressed.
Tzolis 6 – Off to a great start, making himself dangerous in a couple of circumstances. As the minutes pass, however, it is contained with ever greater effectiveness. From 70′ Skov Olsen 5.5 – The former Bologna player emerges with difficulty, not through his fault but because he takes part in a match that has little to say at the end.
Nicky Hayen 6 – He decides to play it openly, coming close to scoring several times in the first half hour. Pulisic’s Olympic goal and Onyedika’s red card, unfortunately for him and his team, change everything in just a few minutes. The attitude also in the second 45 minutes is to be appreciated.