This morning’s edition of Il Giornale headlines:
"The Tightrope-Walking Devil. Milan on a knife’s edge: top-level defense, struggling attack."
The 'Diavolo' heads into the final international break of this Serie A season six points behind Inter Milan and one point ahead of Napoli, who will be their next opponent when the league resumes. Looking at AC Milan’s numbers so far under Massimiliano Allegri, it’s clear that their defensive stats are very strong, while their attack has been struggling considerably.
Il Giornale writes: "The figures speak for themselves: the defense is the second best in the league (23 goals conceded), just one behind Como (22), while the attack (47 goals so far) is well behind the same Como, which has become a goal-scoring machine thanks to yesterday lunchtime’s 5–0 win over Pisa (bringing them to 54).
A closer look at individual performances reveals some very telling numbers. Allegri has often relied on contributions from defenders (9 goals) and midfielders (13) to reach the team’s 47 total goals. The explanation lies entirely in the output of the forwards, both natural and makeshift: just 25 goals overall, with Rafael Leão and Christian Pulisic dealing with persistent injuries and frequent absences, and only scraps coming from Niclas Füllkrug (1 goal), the club’s lone January signing."
