With a 4-0 at the Stadio Maradona, Milan showed both their potential and immaturity, while Napoli proved the runaway leaders have weaknesses, writes Susy Campanale.
Milan fans will not mind me saying that nobody expected them to beat runaway leaders Napoli 4-0 at the Stadio Maradona, but it is precisely this kind of standout performance that raises so many questions around Stefano Pioli’s team.
In light of the extraordinary result, it is worth looking back at the press conference that Pioli gave before the big game. He noted “nobody believed in us” for the Scudetto race last season, or the Champions League against Tottenham and now nobody believed in their chances of taking anything from this fixture. It was in hindsight a call to arms, one heeded in full by his most often criticised players. Rafael Leao was suddenly in the mood after months of moping, Brahim Diaz was both sharp and effective, while even Alexis Saelemaekers gave everyone watching a bizarre out of body experience with moves worthy of Lionel Messi. Everything that could go right on the night did.
It was the perfect performance in every way, returning to the 4-2-3-1 tactics that had been shelved since the start January, bringing with it the determination, intensity and belief that had dissipated in recent months. As Saelemaekers and Olivier Giroud pointed to the Scudetto badge on their jerseys after each goal, it became apparent this was what they’d discussed in the locker room beforehand. ‘We are still the Champions of Italy and don’t you forget it.’
Sandro Tonali has spent his entire career fighting the Andrea Pirlo comparisons that came inevitably from the Brescia connection and the hairstyle, but last night he showed precisely why his hero and reference point was always Gennaro Gattuso. Winning back the ball in midfield and immediately sparking rapid counter-attacks for Leao, he was instrumental in dominating the strongest midfield unit in Serie A.
The fact Milan can play at this level when the mood takes them does raise further questions, though. In a way, the whole team is a reflection of Rafael Leao – flashes of brilliance, remarkable potential, but not the finished article. They are far too inconsistent, flighty and immature to give every fixture the same due consideration. If they can only truly raise their game when riding the wave of the underdog, of trying to prove people wrong who didn’t believe in them, then that can only get them so far.
The Rossoneri are a young and largely immature squad who took the title deservedly last season, but definitely ahead of schedule. All those who were rushing to call for Pioli’s head after the recent slump have fallen suspiciously silent, but they will be back loud and unduly proud at the next setback. They refuse to recognise just what this coach has achieved with a relatively small budget and assume someone else can turbo-charge the growth process, even if it means risking all that has been built so far. Some might even want them to go full Chelsea and sack a coach every few months just to keep things fresh.
Maturity is knowing both how to be the underdogs and also carrying the pressure of being favourites. Milan are not there yet. It would seem that Napoli aren’t quite there yet either, as despite having the Serie A title practically locked down, they can still stumble. They will be fired up to the max for the Champions League quarter-final, coming so soon after this 4-0 humiliation on home turf, determined to prove a point exactly the same way Milan did going into the Stadio Maradona.
This defeat will certainly have an impact on Napoli’s season, because even if it is just one game, it is their heaviest loss of the campaign and means they cannot now beat the Juventus record of 102 Serie A points, set under Antonio Conte in 2013-14. All the other defeats were slim, on a knife edge, whereas this was a proper demolition job. Is the now 16-point lead because the Partenopei were magnificent or as the chasing pack kept tripping over their own feet and failed to catch up?
It shouldn’t raise those suggestions, of course. Napoli have been far and away the best team in Serie A this season and one off night will not change that. After all, when Saelemaekers starts playing like Ronaldinho, there has probably been a glitch in the matrix.