Dribbling, open play goals and taking chances – the areas Milan excel

Originally posted on SempreMilan | By Oliver Fisher | Last updated 3/27/24

AC Milan are excelling in two particular areas this season, a report has revealed, which Stefano Pioli can look to exploit in this season finale.

As Sky write, it was already clear that Milan were aiming to improve their style of play with the 10 signings that arrived during the last summer window, plus Pioli himself had reiterated the concept of dominance several times during the 90 minutes. Seven months later the numbers say exactly that.

The Rossoneri are second team in Serie A for successful dribbles, more than 9 per game (9.2 to be exact) also thanks to players who make beating a man a strong point of their repertoire.

Rafael Leao, third in Serie A behind Matias Soulè and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, but also Christian Pulisic and Theo Hernandez. Milan almost always aims to gain numerical superiority and get to the goal through being direct.

It is no coincidence that Milan are the team that score the most thanks to open play goals with 39 out of 55 goals scored in the league – therefore more than 70% of the total – coming thanks to build-up play rather than set pieces.

And when they get close to the opponent’s goal, Milan often manages to hurt them. The Rossoneri are second only to Roma, their next opponent in Europe, when it comes to outperforming their Expected Goals number. Milan have a goals scored tally which is 5.46 higher than their xG number.

This article first appeared on SempreMilan and was syndicated with permission.

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