Which is the real Milan? The beautiful, intense, fast, organized one that, for an hour, dominated Atalanta from start to finish, scoring three goals, hitting the post, missing a penalty, and allowing the opposition only scraps... Or the disorganized one of the final half-hour, during which they conceded two goals, were saved by Maignan, and played in terror until Chiffi's final whistle?
It is not easy to give an answer because the roller-coaster evening caught even those who were on the pitch by surprise. In this regard, the comments made by Rabiot and Gila, who are also among the most listened-to "thinking minds" inside the dressing room, should be taken as a reference.
"We did very well in the first half, then strangely, in the last thirty minutes, we lost the thread of the match," the Frenchman explained. "If we play a second half like that, it means nothing, and it's a problem. Fortunately, we won this match, but in the end, I don't know if we deserved it that much. That's why I'm a little angry, because, I repeat, we cannot play a first half like that and then collapse like that in the second."
Gila's analysis does not differ much from that of his teammate.
"We dominated the match until the sixty-fifth minute. Then we let up: we lost our positioning a little, we were pressing too hastily, and we were trying to move the ball into attack too quickly. Without patience, we lost control of the match. It's a shame because I think the first half was the best we've had so far this season, and throwing away the good feelings the team experienced on the pitch like that is not a good thing."
Leaving aside the Europa League commitment in Bournemouth (which Amorim will manage by resorting to extensive squad rotation after improving the standings thanks to the victory in Salzburg), the answers will probably come from the next three league matches, in which Milan will face Udinese (away), Bologna, and then Inter in the derby on Halloween night, as relayed via Tuttosport in this morning's print edition.
Yesterday, it was Atalanta who saw witches for a good hour due to a couple of contributing factors: the decision to start with a 4-2-3-1 formation did not pay off, and the loss of Kolasinac to injury also proved fatal.
Atalanta head coach Maurizio Sarri was forced to bring on debutant Obric, who played a negative role in the first penalty awarded to Milan for an awkward handball inside the area from Musah's shot, which was converted by Gonçalo Ramos. (In the second half, Kristensen committed the same sin, but on that occasion Carnesecchi managed to make amends by saving the Portuguese centre-forward's shot: "On the first penalty, I stopped to watch where Carnesecchi was going; on the second, I wanted to change, and he wasn't fooled," explained the former PSG player.)
Milan had already doubled their lead in the first half through Rabiot, assisted by Moreira, and then 'washed away' the number nine's mistake from the penalty spot by finding Gila's 3-0 in the very next move (a beautifully delivered corner from Modric and a headed flick-on from the ever-reliable Adrien).
Was it all over? Not at all, because Sarri got his substitutions right. Zalewski and Gaetano, who had just come on, played key roles in making it 3-1. Then, by bringing on Scamacca and switching to a 4-4-2, he managed to reverse the momentum of the match.
Atalanta made it 3-2 through Krstovic, who had hit the post shortly before (Bellanova's move was as beautiful as the gap left by Jashari was unforgivable), and then came close to equalizing through Zappacosta, who had also come on late in the match. He found himself one-on-one with Maignan but was hypnotized by the imposing French goalkeeper.
Amorim should rightly light a candle in his honor.
