MILAN -- AC Milan managed to win 1-0 against Tottenham Hotspur in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League's Round of 16 (catch all your Champions League action on Paramount+) and for the first time since the World Cup break they've now won two games in a row. The Rossoneri are coming out of a terrible slump since the start of the year, and before tonight Stefano Pioli's men have only picked up two wins since January, first against Salernitana on January 4th, and then against Torino last Friday. In the interim they drew against AS Roma and Lecce and lost against Lazio, Sassuolo and Inter Milan. Pioli's side also lost against Torino in the Coppa Italia's round of 16 and against Inter Milan the Supercoppa Italiana's final in Riyadh.
Their main issue during that stretch was their defense, but it looks like Pioli found a way to put things back to normality with a tactical change. In fact, since the Derby della Madonnina's loss, they are playing with a three-man defense that is giving to the Rossoneri much more defensive strength. Before Friday's game, AC Milan conceded 13 goals in four matches, including a 5-2 home defeat against Sassuolo, and after that tactical change they only conceded once against Inter Milan and then had two clean sheets against Torino and Tottenham.
It's definitely too early to figure out if they are already out of the crisis but it looks like they are getting into better shape, with a new tactical system that is giving much more security to both defenders and midfielders. As their average position on Tuesday showed, when it works they're perfectly balanced and secure.
Against Tottenham, Malick Thiaw played as a starter for the fourth time this season, and the second match in a row, and showed to be a good solution especially with the three center-backs playing together. He was supposed to play as a replacement for Simon Kjaer, but after the last minute injury of Fikayo Tomori he played alongside the Danish player and Pierre Kalulu. It's likely that coach Pioli will give Thiaw much more game time in the coming weeks, after Tuesday's performance.
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Things are getting better for AC Milan, with key player, goalkeeper Mike Maignan who is also expected to come back this month. On the other hand, Rafael Leao still needs to adapt to this new system, as he's asked to drop back and come more central in addition to his usual touches to help the team when they are defending as well. The feeling is that if he adapts quickly to this new way of playing, AC Milan will actually be back to their usual form. Against Spurs he clearly adapted and keep deep to involve himself in build up as his touch map shows, but he also only had one total shot in the match. Balancing those needs will be the key to whether he excels in this system
The road is still long, but now Pioli and AC Milan fans can look at the future with positivity.
