Milan Doomed by Rare Pulisic Mistake and Leao Misses | OneFootball

Christian Pulisic skied a PK that could have decided the match between Milan and Juventus in the second half on Sunday. It’s just his second mistake from the spot in 15 attempts throughout his career. Curiously, his other one happened in the same city, but against Torino, last February, when he was denied by a specialist, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.

According to DAZN (via Calciomercato), Massimiliano Allegri didn’t watch the error and joked with his lead assistant and the player that he had said not to kick with the inside of the foot. The USMNT star will remain the top taker. He still has the best conversion rate among the possible options. Luka Modric and Santiago Gimenez, who have handled those duties in the past, have been less precise.

Milan have actually been late in handing the duties to Pulisic full time. Collectively, they have netted 7 out of 13 tries since the start of 2024, barely more than half, La Gazzetta dello Sport informs.

The coach singled out Rafael Leao more in his post-game remarks, inviting him to be more clutch. The Portuguese star is working his way back from a calf injury that sidelined him for 45 days. Allegri is determined to field him as a no.9, competing with Santiago Gimenez and Christopher Nkunku. However, his touch in the box has never been pristine, and he squandered two major chances versus Juventus.

Our Take on Milan

It was the first time during which not having an elite center-forward bit them this season. There are reasons why Leao has always operated on the wing. The gaffer has already ruled it out, but he might have to change his scheme to field all his main weapons at the same time.