During stoppage time in Roma-Milan, and especially on a free kick in favour of the Rossoneri in the final seconds of the match, Massimiliano Allegri, instead of opting for the most classic long ball into the penalty area, urged Modrić to play calmly from the back, keeping the ball on the ground, almost as if he wanted to let time run without anything else happening.
It was clear that, in Milan’s overall campaign, this draw in Rome was more than satisfactory. Better, therefore, in the view of the ex Juventus head coach, not to risk gifting the opponents one last attacking chance, even if that meant not taking a risk to try to win the match at the same time.
After all, with yesterday’s 1–1 draw, Milan gained a point on Napoli and kept their distance from Roma unchanged. Never mind if Inter moved five points clear: the Nerazzurri are not Milan's direct rivals, and the Scudetto is not the publicly declared objective, as relayed via Milan News.
Massimiliano Allegri confirmed this in his post-match press conference:
"We’re not thinking about Inter, we’re thinking about ourselves. It’s a difficult period. We keep playing away from home. In our recent run, six away matches and three at home. We take things one step at a time. As I always say, Milan’s objective is to finish in the top four. Then, having the ambition to achieve the maximum is another matter, but the reality is that Milan have to finish in the top four. Right now we’re second, but the journey is still long. And there’s a lot to improve. Athekame came on and had a good match, De Winter is also growing well. So, with great calm, feet on the ground, and we focus on what we need to do."
