Allegri’s Milan favour efficiency as they alone keep pace with Inter in Serie A | OneFootball

After a disastrous 2024-25, Milan have become the only side keeping pace with Inter in Serie A under Massimiliano Allegri’s no-frills approach. They face Como on Wednesday at 20:45, and on Tuesday Allegri said Champions League qualification is economically vital.

The reverse fixture on 16 January finished 3-1 to Milan despite a lopsided stat sheet, with Como enjoying 68 percent possession. Mike Maignan excelled and Adrien Rabiot struck twice then won a penalty.

The results-first versus style-first debate has simmered in Italy, and Allegri is firmly with the pragmatists. He has not chased elaborate patterns when the squad did not suit.

Hired after finishing eighth and losing the Coppa Italia final, he now has Milan as Inter’s lone challengers, with the derby due in early March. Since a 1-2 opening-day loss to promoted Cremonese, they are unbeaten in 23 league games, the longest run in Europe’s Big 5 and the club’s second best in a single Serie A season after 1991-92.

Milan have 61 points after 24 matches, a mark they had reached only once in the three-points-for-a-win era, in 2003-04, when they took the scudetto. Yet they rank eighth for shots per game and ninth for average possession among the 20 Serie A sides, and have dropped 13 points to promoted teams and strugglers.

At Pisa on Friday, a late piece of Luka Modric inspiration was required to beat the bottom club, and he became the oldest player to score from open play in Serie A history.

Source: L'Équipe