FIORENTINA v AC MILAN: THE DEBRIEFING

Fiorentina 1-2 AC Milan. Regardless of how the Rossoneri's league campaign ends, victory at the Franchi will certainly be part of the side's most precious wins. The history books have not written about returning home from Florence with three points since March 2021, which gave us a smile this time around. In our Debriefing, we delve into the positives to come out of matchday 30.

CATCHING UP, OVERTAKING AND NOW MOVING AWAY
Starting well again after the break was important but tricky, even more so with it being in Florence. AC Milan won - for the fourth time in a row and six if you include Slavia Praha - and won well; they have yet to drop a point in the league since the beginning of March. In Serie A, they are on a roll; in less than a month, they have not only moved into second place, but fully secured down that position. Maybe a surprise, but thoroughly deserved, it has been down to hard work, some great performances resulting from a great mental and physical condition, and an almost full squad available for some time now. The goal of qualifying for the next Champions League is not far off, and every step forward allows us to manage the end of the season in the best possible way, especially in light of the Europa League.

RUBES AND RAFA, GOALS AND NUMBERS
The spotlight is, inevitably, on the goalscorers of the game. Loftus-Cheek has become the third English player in AC Milan's history to score more than five goals in Serie A, after Hateley (seven in 1984/85 and eight in 1985/86) and Graves (nine in 1961/62). In total, Rubes has ten goals to his name, who once again showed his quality and involvement, remaining on the pitch for the full 90 minutes. And then Leão, alone at the top of the charts after an elusive and decisive solo run that took his team back into the lead, in what wasn't an easy period of the game for the Rossoneri. Rafa made his 200th appearance and provided his eighth league assist (equalling his personal record from the 2021/22 and 2022/23 season); he is the third player to have at least eight assists in the last three years in Europe's top-five leagues, after Salah and Brandt.

MAIGNAN ON TOP FORM
Fiorentina had more attempts on goal in general (17 to 14), but more were off-target (seven to ten). In analysing the defensive performance - a fundamental aspect in the win - we must not forget the big absence of Hernández. His unique characteristics were missing, despite the commitment and effectiveness of Florenzi shining out, who moved over to the left wing. The Rossoneri rearguard were under pressure at times, but Maignan gave them a big helping hand. He did well against Belotti in the first half, was exceptional again from Belotti and showed great reflexes from Mandragora in the second half. Exceptional. If the Diavolo overcame Roma, Napoli, Lazio and Fiorentina, in this order, (drawing with Atalanta), then it's also been down to Mike's saves and only three goals conceded in these big matches.

The AC Milan PUMA Kits for 2023/24 are available: buy them now!