Lazio Vs AC Milan [1–0] – Coppa Italia 2025/2026: How Maurizio Sarri Tactics Neutralised Max Allegri Attack – Tactical Analysis

Lazio beat AC Milan in their Coppa Italia Round of 16 encounter at the Stadio Olimpico, following Milan’s win at San Siro in their league fixture.

Lazio made a very important step forward in the Coppa Italia with a performance and result that could also change the course and events of their season.

With a big win over a powerful Milan side, Lazio will gain a lot psychologically, as this win will give them a boost.

Following their win, Lazio will face Bologna in the quarter-finals.

On the other hand, Milan failed to achieve one of their seasonal objectives: reaching the final of this tournament while challenging for the top four spots in the league.

The Coppa Italia was a priority for Milan mainly because they do not play in Europe this season.

With their failure to qualify for the quarter-finals, Milan will now only play Serie A games until the end of the season.

This tactical analysis article will explore the reasons for this loss while focusing mainly on what Lazio did to push Milan into committing several mistakes in this match.

Lazio Vs Milan Lineups & Formations

Maurizio Sarri started the match in his preferred 4-3-3 formation, with Christos Mandas as goalkeeper, Adam Marušić as right-back, Mario Gila and Alessio Romagnoli as centre-backs, and Luca Pellegrini as left-back.

The midfield line was made up of Matías Vecino, Mattéo Guendouzi, and Toma Bašić.

In contrast, the attacking line was composed of Gustav Isaksen and Mattia Zaccagni as wingers, with Valentín Castellanos as the team’s central striker.

On the other hand, Massimiliano Allegri made some changes compared to the latest league games while keeping the same 3-5-2 formation.

The lineup included Mike Maignan as goalkeeper, Fikayo Tomori, Koni De Winter, and Strahinja Pavlović as centre-backs, Alexis Saelemaekers and Pervis Estupiñán as wing-backs, and Adrien Rabiot and Samuele Ricci as central midfielders, with Ardon Jashari as a defensive midfielder instead of Luka Modrić.

In attack, Milan’s head coach relied on Rafael Leão and Ruben Loftus-Cheek as the attacking duo, leaving Christian Pulisic and Christopher Nkunku on the bench.

Lazio Effective High Pressing Vs Milan

Milan played a complicated game against a Lazio side seeking revenge for their most recent loss to Milan in Serie A.

Lazio started the match in a different way compared to the league game, applying high pressure on Milan’s defensive and midfield lines with more than three players each time.

This high pressure was continuous and aggressive, preventing Milan from building up from the back with ease and limiting their midfielders’ vertical passes.

Milan had no other option than resorting to the wings from where they tried to progress, as Lazio’s man-marking was very disciplined and affected Milan’s playmaking plans.

In fact, Lazio relied on numerical superiority whenever Milan tried to advance with the ball.

This eventually led to Lazio intercepting the ball on many occasions, even when Milan resorted to progressing from both flanks.

Lazio Numerical Superiority Inside Milan Half

The following example highlights one of Lazio’s interceptions inside Milan’s own half.

The picture clearly shows how Lazio’s players intensified their presence around the ball holder, limiting his passing options and forcing him to commit a mistake, especially because they know Milan often tries to progress with short passes rather than long ones.

With five players positioning themselves in the zone of the ball holder and man-marking their direct opponents, Lazio guaranteed intercepting Tomori’s potential pass.

In fact, Lazio relied on high pressing, especially on Tomori, because they were aware of his limited passing skills and his inability to handle it.

That led to Tomori making many poor passes in this match, thanks to Lazio’s persistent pressure and numerical superiority in the areas where Milan tried to start their build-up from the back.

Lazio Anticipation & Interception Of Milan Passes

Lazio players were attentive enough to surprise Milan’s players with key anticipations and interceptions of their passes inside their own half, something that caused a lot of issues for Milan.

The result could have been higher than a 1-0 win for Lazio if the Biancocelesti had exploited their recoveries in Milan’s half in a more decisive way.

This is one of the examples that highlight Milan’s failure to build from the back, with Lazio’s players putting a lot of pressure on the ball holder, leaving him with only one or two passing options.

Lazio players were also intelligent enough to predict those one or two passing solutions and anticipate them with movements without the ball in order to intercept those passes.

Guendouzi was excellent in this example, as he anticipated Di Winter’s pass and reacted quickly to intercept it.

However, the way Lazio dealt with the ball after winning it back was not decisive enough, as they failed to turn it into a goal-scoring opportunity.

If Lazio work harder on exploiting each ball recovery inside the opponent’s half, they will surely become a much more dangerous team in this regard, as they have the attributes and the collective discipline and organisation needed to win the ball in key areas but lack the ability to create danger consistently from such situations.

Lazio Concrete Goalscoring Chance

Lazio came very close to scoring thanks to their tactical approach, and on this occasion, the plan was different from just high pressing.

As the ball was at the feet of Mandas, Zaccagni made an intelligent backward move as if he was asking for the ball and intended to control it, but touched it just to keep the pass progressing for Bašić, who was advancing at his back.

Zaccagni’s movement attracted Tomori, who was man-marking Zaccagni and obliged him to advance to midfield, leaving a lot of space at his back.

Milan’s defending in this action was not good enough, as no one was covering for Tomori, with De Winter being very distant.

This allowed Bašić to run with the ball freely and have the time needed for shooting from distance without issues.

Bašić got very close to scoring in this action, but his shot went inches away from Milan’s goal.

The action highlights Lazio’s excellent attacking ideas and the chemistry that is starting to be built between the players, as such movements without the ball should be reproduced more often to create similar threats.

Milan Dangerous Misplaced Passes

Thanks to Lazio’s marking and pressing efforts, Milan’s players were obliged to commit numerous mistakes in this match, especially during the first half, when they failed to advance smoothly.

Their issues persisted even after they intercepted the ball during Lazio’s attacks.

Following such interceptions, Lazio did not retreat but preferred to press high in order to quickly regain possession inside Milan’s dangerous areas.

They were successful in doing so on multiple occasions, and perhaps the most notable example of this is the following.

During this action, Milan won the ball back, and Saelemaekers received it while under heavy marking.

This obliged him to provide a backward pass, which he failed to orient properly, resulting in a giveaway to Castellanos.

The way Castellanos dealt with the ball he received, however, deserves more attention and work from the Argentinian, as he failed to convert an easy, inviting pass into a dangerous opportunity.

Goal scorers like Castellanos should be far more opportunistic and decisive when presented with such golden chances.

Castellanos did not succeed in shooting the ball with power, as his curved shot was neither too angled nor powerful enough to disturb Maignan.

Lazio Exploitation Of Milan Poor Set-Piece Defending

Lazio were successful in scoring the single goal of the match thanks to exploiting Milan’s issues in defending against corner-kicks in this match.

Zaccagni was good enough in anticipating the cross and in making the U movement needed to head the ball with power and surprise Maignan.

The following picture shows Zaccagni at the moment of his header and highlights how he was fully unmarked at this time, as his anticipatory U movement allowed him to escape from everyone and get to the back at the near post.

That said, Milan’s defenders were passive in this action, as they should have marked Zaccagni more tightly on such a dangerous action, as they should be aware of a potential movement to attack the ball as it reaches the near post and not wait for it to reach its destination.

Lazio were good at exploiting Milan’s defensive weaknesses and slow build-up play, and these two plans helped them win this match.

Conclusion

Milan only created danger through crosses from both wings, especially from Estupiñán, and Loftus-Cheek was dangerous enough to threaten Lazio’s goal but not enough to score.

Moreover, Leão could have been more decisive with shooting as he had his chance of the match following Jashari’s key long pass and Estupiñán’s pass inside the box.

Things could have gone differently for Milan if Leão knew how to finish that chance on goal.

That said, Milan found it hard to reach the box with ease, despite Loftus-Cheek and Leão dropping to midfield and the wings many times to receive the ball and help with playmaking.

Overall, Milan’s attacking attempts were neither numerous nor particularly dangerous, as they failed to convert the few chances they created into goals.

This was a lesson to learn from for Milan when facing teams that play with such style.

In other words, Allegri and his players will have to be prepared to face teams that use such a playing style in the future, while also preparing build-up alternatives and plan-B attacking solutions to rely on specifically for such occasions.