Bologna Vs AC Milan [0–3] – Serie A 2025/2026: Max Allegri’s Title Race Message – Tactical Analysis

Bologna hosted AC Milan at the Renato Dall’Ara Stadium for Gameweek 23 of Serie A, and they lost 0-3 in a match that sent a message to Inter Milan: the Rossoneri are not giving up on the Scudetto battle yet.

Milan are currently in second place with 50 points, five points behind Inter and four ahead of Napoli in third.

The battle between AC Milan and Inter Milan is becoming increasingly tense, as they are the only teams to have maintained their positive run of form in this recent run.

On the other hand, the situation is becoming less promising for Bologna, as they are now in 10th place with 30 points, 11 behind the spot that would qualify them for a European competition.

If Bologna don’t bounce back soon, their season will most likely be considered a failure, since their results in the last few seasons were much better in Serie A.

In this tactical analysis, I will focus mainly on Milan’s attacking performance, exploring how they beat Bologna and analysing the tools they used to do so.

Bologna Vs Milan Lineups & Formations

Vincenzo Italiano started the match in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Federico Ravaglia as goalkeeper, a defensive line of Torbjørn Heggem and Nicolò Casale as centre-backs, and Nadir Zortea and Juan Miranda as full-backs.

The midfield consisted of Remo Freuler and Lewis Ferguson as central midfielders, Riccardo Orsolini and Jonathan Rowe as wingers, and Jens Odgaard as an advanced playmaker behind the main striker, Santiago Castro.

On the other side, Massimiliano Allegri opted for the usual 3-5-2 formation, with Mike Maignan as the goalkeeper, Strahinja Pavlović, Koni De Winter, and Matteo Gabbia as centre-backs, Zachary Athekame and Davide Bartesaghi as wing-backs, and Adrien Rabiot and Youssouf Fofana as central midfielders.

In addition to both central midfielders, Luka Modrić played as a defensive midfielder, and the attacking line featured both Christopher Nkunku and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.

Milan Attacking Positioning & Counterattacking Threats

Milan suffered from Bologna’s high press, especially at the beginning of the match, something that obliged them to rely on Loftus-Cheek, Nkunku, and Rabiot to collect long passes from Maignan and or from the backline.

This was Milan’s only solution to avoid Bologna’s dangerous high pressing and reach the opponent’s half successfully and without too many risks.

Bologna’s plan was to limit Nkunku and Rabiot’s progressive runs, which is why Bologna’s players made sure to force the two Milan stars to always play with their backs to the goal.

Allegri wanted to rely heavily on the left flank in this match to ensure numerical superiority, especially since many of the starting players are strong there.

He instructed Pavlović to advance whenever possible, since Bartesaghi can cover for him.

Rabiot was naturally instructed to advance on the left side, and Nkunku was told to lean towards the left wing to receive passes in that zone and then cut inside or exchange passes with either Rabiot or Pavlović.

In other words, Nkunku was instructed to lean left, much as Allegri has been using Rafael Leão lately.

At the same time, Loftus-Cheek was used more like a stationary striker, receiving long passes, especially inside the box, and retreating when needed.

Milan Creative Positioning Of Their Strikers

Milan’s initial attempts confirmed the plan to rely on Loftus-Cheek as a proper striker, with Nkunku dropping back to receive the ball and be more dynamic in the opponent’s half, not only inside the box.

One of the first Milan actions of the match saw Nkunku retreat to his team’s own half to be at the receiving end of a pass from Rabiot before turning and fixing two opponents and serving Loftus-Cheek with a key pass into space between those two opponents.

Despite Nkunku’s excellent playmaking, Loftus-Cheek showed his limitations as a striker, failing to handle the key situation well and hesitating in the one-on-one against the goalkeeper.

That hesitation allowed the goalkeeper to get the advantage on him and intercept the ball, exploiting Loftus-Cheek’s poorly executed and expected dribble.

Loftus-Cheek had plenty of options in this action as he was distant from his direct marker and could have opted for any other solution than to try a complicated dribble in front of goal and not even towards the right or the left.

Milan Zachary Athekame Crossing Weapon

Allegri’s reliance on Athekame as a right wing-back in this match showed that the latter has got the passing quality needed to replace Alexis Saelemaekers with the needed quality upfront.

His crossing quality, evident on more than one occasion in this match, highlighted his natural ability to serve his teammates with remarkable accuracy, using both feet and in a very quick manner.

In fact, Athekame proposes a different approach on the right wing than Saelemaekers, prioritising crossing opportunities and launching accurate, sometimes surprising, crosses to opposing defences.

On the other hand, Saelemaekers usually tries to prioritise getting past one or two opponents before thinking about crossing to the box, which limits his capacity to surprise the opponent’s defence and makes his crosses often predictable.

This is why Athekame was dangerous with his crosses from the right wing: he created the first goal action with an unexpected left-footed cross towards Nkunku.

Nkunku was indeed well-positioned to receive the cross, and Loftus-Cheek moved well without the ball to anticipate defenders and win the second ball, but the credit for this goal goes mainly to Athekame and his valuable cross.

Luka Modrić Role In Attacking Transitions & The Interchangeability Of Roles Between Ruben Loftus-Cheek & Christopher Nkunku

Milan’s second goal action already highlights several elements that Allegri’s playing system is based on.

Modrić’s fundamental role in attacking transitions and in the build-up has been extremely valuable to this team so far, and he is confirming it match after match.

The line-breaking pass in this action allowed Loftus-Cheek to get the ball, turn, avoid his direct marker, and put himself in an inviting position to either shoot or provide an assist to Nkunku.

The interchangeability of roles and positions between Loftus-Cheek and Nkunku illustrates Allegri’s creative use of his strikers, despite his having to use a Plan B attack lineup due to the unavailability of the more reliable ones.

Despite that, he still succeeded in using them well, and both Loftus-Cheek and Nkunku were as dangerous as needed on Bologna’s defence.

On this occasion, it was Loftus-Cheek who did the playmaking for his teammate, and he was not egoistic despite having the chance to shoot on goal.

At the same time, Nkunku’s handling of the dangerous situation he was put in was excellent and highlighted his striker traits since he did what Loftus-Cheek failed to do on a previous occasion: touching the ball away from the goalkeeper and obliging him to commit a foul inside the box.

The high level of maturity and the effective exploitation of attacking chances are increasing within this Milan team, and the fact that they have been able to score goals without needing many created chances is becoming one of their most valuable strengths this season.

Milan Adrien Rabiot Attacking Impact & Goalscoring Added Value

Rabiot’s attacking added value continues to make the difference for Milan this season, as the French international has scored decisive goals on multiple occasions through solo efforts.

This was one of the times when Rabiot reconfirmed his ability to spot and anticipate opponents’ mistakes in their own half, and to use his physical strength, acceleration, and tactical maturity to move forward quickly after winning the ball, rather than waiting for his teammates.

His high confidence in such situations makes the difference for him, as he accelerates quickly, overpowers the opposing defender, and does not hesitate to score without overcomplicating things, using power and accuracy to confuse the goalkeeper.

Encouraging Rabiot to take similar attacking initiatives and instructing him to always be present in Milan’s attacks counts for Allegri, as Rabiot has been adding significant value and quality to Milan’s attack, scoring goals when Milan needed them most.

Conclusion

Milan passed the Bologna test at a difficult stadium and confirmed that the team is on track to keep chasing Inter Milan for the top spot while securing their path to a top-four finish.

With this win, Milan will be even more confident to win their upcoming games as they have “unlocked” new weapons such as Athekame and his alternative approach to dealing with the right-wing situations, and the efficiency of the Nkunku-Loftus-Cheek attacking duo, as well as the old and reconfirmed weapons such as Rabiot’s attacking input and Modrić’s crucial line-breaking passes.

For Bologna, however, it will be important to fix the numerous defensive mistakes and become much more solid at the back to avoid losing in this way in the coming games.

And attacking-wise, Bologna were unable to exploit their wingers’ threats effectively, as their striker was not at his best and failed to disrupt Milan’s defence significantly.