Milan confused by Pioli’s ‘bizarre’ tactical moves in Roma defeat

AC Milan went to Rome hoping for a famous night, but in truth the Europa League tie was over after less than 25 minutes leading to some question marks about Stefano Pioli’s moves.

As Daniele Longo writes for Calciomercato.com, Milan sadly exited the Europa League against a better team from every point of view. Roma were superior on a technical, tactical, personality and character level, and they are rightly into the semi-finals.

The Rossoneri had to play a much better game to overturn a first leg that had seen them succumb to the pressure at San Siro and instead they entered the field with the fear of those who seems to know they couldn’t do it.

Pioli put a lot of effort into fielding a ‘bizarre’ starting XI: he excluded his best midfielder in favour of playing Yunus Musah wide to cover Spinazzola, and then Davide Calabria flopped in a more central role where other qualities – such as those of a natural midfielder – were needed.

The result? Roma attacked through the central routes this time and scored two goals in 22 minutes, which ended up being more than enough to win the game against a Milan that looked out of ideas and lacking in confidence.

It was also questionable to relegate the most in-form player in the squad, Samuel Chukwueze, to the bench. The Nigerian, who came on at the start of the second half, was the only one able to disturb a very well-placed team with his unpredictability.

Pioli may have got the better of Roma in the two league meetings this season but he has now lost his last four European games against Italian sides, namely Inter and Roma, scoring just one goal. These are dire numbers that mark, in all likelihood, the end of his time in charge.