It is the city that has achieved so much, entering the history books, while Gasperini’s boys failed to bring home the three points. Roma-Milan ends in perfect balance (1-1), the technical aspect comes second because first there is everything you notice off-camera.
A light drizzle two and a half hours before the match turned into a downpour mixed with gusts of wind just as the fans of both teams were about to pass through the turnstiles of the Olimpico Stadium. In short, if you got out of the car dry, you had to expect entering the stadium with ten centimeters of wet pants.
Saelemaekers: predictable outcome
Right during the warm-up, you could already predict Saelemaekers' game: repeatedly booed and whistled by the fans who supported him last year, but something has changed since the first-leg match (Milan-Roma 1-0). Wesley’s attitude also changed, after being particularly tense at San Siro, and Gasperini must have worked to prevent him from falling into futile provocations.
Allegri unconvinced by Leao’s flicks, Gasp guides the defensive line
On the bench, Allegri is intermittently furious. Another useless Leao flick enrages him, and he does not miss an opportunity to ask his staff for explanations. During Roma’s pressure, he urges the team to grit their teeth and hold firm, while throwing more than one glance at the players warming up: he is already thinking (sometimes outside his area of responsibility) about how to shift the momentum in the medium term.
On the other side, Gasperini is constantly moving. He asks Mancini for new readings on Rabiot and then on the Leao-Nkunku duo, continuously adjusting the defensive shifts. He is obsessed, in a positive sense, with distances: the fewer meters Milan has, the better, as relayed via Milan News.
In the second half, as he prepares to come on, Fullkrug does not just watch. From the sideline, he encourages his teammates, talks, energizes the atmosphere. He is becoming an important presence in the locker room, one of those who raise the level, and who knows, he might soon carve out an even more central role.
The two sides of the Roma-Milan post-match
After the match, Allegri appears quite calm in the press conference. But when asked about Chivu’s surge, his tone changes: no constant comparisons with others, because the focus must remain on Milan. The minimum goal is clear: enter the top four and return to the Champions League. Everything else will depend on consistency and hunger for growth.
Gasperini, instead, chews over the draw a little bitterly, but does not dismiss the performance. He sees a team that is improving and highlights it. Finally, Mancini takes a moment to applaud Maignan: in his view, he is one of those goalkeepers who truly make a difference. He concludes with a compliment to Roma, which he believes is playing “Gasperini-style” football learned at Atalanta.
