AC Milan faced Inter Milan at the San Siro stadium for Gameweek 28 in Serie A 2025/2026; the Derby della Madonnina ended with an important 1-0 win for I Rossoneri.
This win keeps the title challenge alive, even though Inter Milan are still seven points ahead of AC Milan.
AC Milan needed to win the match and put pressure on Inter in the final games of the season, hoping to see them lose more points in the coming fixtures, especially since both teams still have several difficult games to play.
On the other hand, Inter Milan were unable to avoid defeat despite attempts to get back into the game, failing to find attacking solutions, especially after AC Milan’s goal.
In this tactical analysis, we focus on Inter Milan’s attacking and defensive errors and explore how AC Milan intelligently exploited Inter Milan’s weaknesses.
AC Milan Vs Inter Milan Lineups & Formations
Massimiliano Allegri opted for the usual 3-5-2 formation, with Mike Maignan as goalkeeper, Fikayo Tomori, Koni De Winter, and Strahinja Pavlović as centre-backs, with Alexis Saelemaekers and Pervis Estupiñán as wing-backs.
The midfield was made up of Luka Modrić as a defensive midfielder, with Adrien Rabiot and Youssouf Fofana as central midfielders.
Upfront, the attacking duo was composed of Rafael Leão and Christian Pulisic.
On the other hand, Cristian Chivu lined his team up in their usual 3-5-2 formation as well, with Yann Sommer occupying his usual spot in goal behind the centre-backs Yann Aurel Bisseck, Manuel Akanji, and Alessandro Bastoni.
Luis Henrique and Federico Dimarco started as the two wing-backs, while the midfield was made up of Nicolò Barella, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and Piotr Zieliński.
And in attack, Francesco Pio Esposito and Ange-Yoan Bonny started as the two strikers.
Inter Milan Poor Decisions Inside The Box
The match saw AC Milan make a powerful start, using high pressing and being first on the ball, as their players looked more dynamic and motivated than Inter Milan’s.
This was consolidated and confirmed by Modrić’s first big chance of the match at the second minute, following a high recovery from Pulisic, who was very attentive and efficient in terms of high pressing.
The latter exploited a wrong pass from the goalkeeper and intercepted it before opting to pass to Modrić, as he noticed the Croatian was better-positioned and had more chances to score.
But due to quick disturbance from Inter Milan’s defenders, Modrić was obliged to shoot using his left foot and his shot went inches away from goal.
On the other hand, Inter Milan failed to perform well on the attack, mainly because they were unable to serve Esposito as frequently as needed inside the box, as well as due to the lack of chemistry between the two strikers.
Esposito passed the ball to Bonny only once throughout the match, while Bonny did not provide any passes to Esposito.
This confirms that both strikers were far apart and lacked the playmaking potential of the usual starting strikers, Marcus Thuram and Lautaro Martínez.
The lack of intensity in high pressing, as well as the lack of risk-taking from an attacking perspective, did not help Inter Milan at all in this match, just like in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League knockout playoffs.
Furthermore, Inter Milan’s lack of crosses and inability to exploit the two decisive chances they created cost them the match, as they were unable to significantly disturb Milan’s defence in the second half and did not find solutions to breaking it.
Mkhitaryan had the chance of the match at the 33rd minute but failed to exploit the opportunity well enough despite the defensive errors of his direct markers in this action.
Failing to exploit one or two decisive actions in such games can be penalising, and that’s what happened soon after as Milan scored the only goal of the match seconds after this Inter Milan chance.
Mkhitaryan’s solo effort was remarkable, but he was hesitant during the key moment when he had to decide whether to pass or to shoot.
Failing to provide the pass to Bonny when needed, despite the latter’s inviting movement, obliged Mkhitaryan to opt for shooting, only to discover that he needed to prepare for shooting earlier and before reaching the goal.
The hesitancy and the poor final shooting decision prevented Inter Milan from exploiting one of their few dangerous opportunities of the match.
In addition to that, Inter Milan reached AC Milan’s goal thanks to very few other actions, including a Dimarco opportunity that was not finished accurately.
The action started with an excellent high recovery by Barella on the right wing, before crossing towards Mkhitaryan, who, despite a suitable position, preferred to pass the ball to Dimarco.
The latter, however, opted for the shot’s beauty at the expense of accuracy, which sent it off target and missed a golden opportunity to equalise.
AC Milan Counterattacking Plan: Success & Areas Of Improvement
This initial dangerous action from Modrić and the positive attitude shown by AC Milan in the first minutes paved the way for them to keep playing with confidence and win most of the duels, especially in midfield, where Modrić, Rabiot, and Fofana had the advantage over their direct opponents.
In fact, AC Milan succeeded in playing the game that they wanted, using counterattacks and having less possession (only 38% for Milan) while disturbing Inter Milan thanks to those dangerous attacking transitions involving various players.
That said, AC Milan’s counterattacking attempts were dangerous but could have been better exploited before and after their first goal.
AC Milan Counterattacking Errors
The main issue was Fofana’s hesitancy and lack of quality in passing ideas and execution, as well as his inability, at times, to choose the right timing for his actions, rather than the goal action.
For instance, AC Milan found themselves in a very inviting goalscoring situation at the 41st minute thanks to a quick attacking transition involving a passing combination between De Winter, Fofana, Modrić, and then back to Fofana in space.
The latter succeeded in surpassing Barella’s tackle but then failed to pass the ball to one of his teammates despite having three options.
He preferred to wait, then provided a wrong backward pass that was intercepted.
Lacking the creativity and the necessary passing quality in the final third is an aspect AC Milan should improve, especially for players like Fofana, who is extremely useful in terms of energy and contribution in attacking transitions, but lacks the quality and creativity in that final area.
AC Milan Vertical Passing & Exploitation Of Inter Milan Right Flank Weaknesses
AC Milan used vertical passing frequently in this match, which helped them get past Inter Milan’s high pressing on numerous occasions, rendering it ineffective and exploiting the opponent’s advancing players to launch attacks with numerical superiority.
The goal action started with an impressive pass from Modrić, who knew exactly when to switch play directly towards Tomori on the left flank after he noticed the left side was crowded.
That direct pass, ignoring Di Winter and his marker, paved the way for Tomori to play vertically from the right flank to the direction of Fofana.
The combination between Fofana and Leão was also impressive, as Fofana surprised his direct marker with a first-time pass to Leão, who dealt with it as a proper striker with his back to the goal, while attracting his direct opponent and providing a pass back to Fofana.
The latter was quick and intelligent enough in spotting Estupiñán’s run at the back of Henrique, exploiting the latter’s passive defending and the space he left behind him.
The action showed that AC Milan studied Inter Milan’s defensive weaknesses well enough and succeeded in playing on them, especially on this occasion, with Estupiñán finishing with power and accuracy to complete a very smooth attacking action for I Rossoneri.
Building on such actions in the future will be important for AC Milan, as they showed great potential to create actions with one or two touches and play at the back of the opposing defensive line.
Fofana, in particular, shows strong playmaking potential in this act, providing a well-timed assist with his left foot. Hehe needs to work on repeating that more often while avoiding less confident, hesitant solutions in that area.
In fact, it was Fofana who missed a few dangerous opportunities for AC Milan due to his hesitancy and unsuccessful decision-making in key areas.
But at the same time, he was the one who had a huge role in the goal action.
Another possible area for improvement would be to work extensively with Leão on his first touches as a striker and to improve how he deals with such situations, both mentally and tactically.
He failed to make accurate passes and lost the ball on more than one occasion in this match, which prevented him from having the confidence needed to perform more efficiently.
Addressing this weakness and making him a more confident, reliable striker, especially when he retreats to receive the ball with his back to the goal, would make him more useful to the team in his new striker position.
Conclusion
AC Milan were the better side in this match, as they were more intelligent in exploiting Inter Milan’s weaknesses, being less predictable and more dangerous on the attack.
For Inter Milan, the team needs an urgent psychological boost and a few tactical changes to become less predictable in its attacking play and get back to winning ways after a very negative period.
If they fail to find alternative attacking solutions and continue performing the way they did against AC Milan, they risk losing more points and therefore put themselves under pressure to lose the top spot to AC Milan after being 10 points behind them.
