Winning battles and making key passes – Bennacer becomes Milan’s all-round midfielder

AC Milan have welcomed back the best version of Ismael Bennacer after his struggles physically earlier in the season.

MilanNews writes about the unique role that the Algerian plays in Milan’s game mechanism, and yesterday’s win over Hellas Verona was a prime example of that. With 80% of duels won, 11 balls recovered and the 3 key-passes offered in the offensive phase, we saw the very best of Bennacer in each department.

The Champions League match at San Siro against Atletico Madrid put Bennacer in the limelight in his first Champions League start ever, and his performance was sadly not reflected in the result. With Franck Kessie and Sandro Tonali to be able to call upon too, all three will have to work hard to keep their starting spot.

Given Kessie’s absence due to disqualification, Bennacer will be called to another litmus test against Porto and he is hoping to raise the bar even further again.