GdS: The three weapons Conceicao will call upon against Bologna

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·12 maggio 2025

GdS: The three weapons Conceicao will call upon against Bologna

Sergio Conceicao has not given up on the idea of earning a stay at AC Milan, and he will call upon three things in the Coppa Italia final.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport write, the final will give opportunity to at least partially sweeten an otherwise bitter season, and as we approach it the team’s strengths are becoming clearer. It’s not their style of play, but there is no more time to work on that now.

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In any case we need to be honest: despite the triumph in the Supercoppa Italiana and the 4-1 aggregate win over Inter in the Coppa Italia semi-final, Milan’s style of play under Conceiçao has not improved, at least aesthetically.

Milan, when they win, do it with fight and spirit. It was the same with Paulo Fonseca, even if he preached and demanded ball possession and domination that was very rarely seen. Conceiçao at least doesn’t promise tiki-taka: he focuses on the essentials, with winning above all.

Comebacks

The game between Milan and Bologna on Friday night was the battle between the two teams that have gained the most points from being behind in the league: the Emiliansside remained stuck in 18 points, Milan flew to 22.

In the top five leagues in Europe only Atletico Madrid have obtained more points after going behind in games (23). It’s a tendency, an attitude, a mental strength for which credit and credit must be given to the coach, even if going ahead is always preferred.

When Riccardo Orsolini scored first in a game that until then seemed like a simple training drill in view of the game at the Olimpico, San Siro watched a stunned Milan, with the ghosts of what could have awaited them five days later in front of them.

Then came Santiago Gimenez’s brace and Christian Pulisic’s goal, which transformed a tepid environment into a peak of decibels like we hadn’t heard for a long time. For Bologna it is an important lesson: this is a Milan that never dies.

Photo by AC Milan

New formation

Since the Rossoneri switched to 3-4-3 – at least as a starting formation – the Rossoneri have put together five wins in six games with only three goals conceded and three clean sheets. Including the Coppa Italia derby, we are at four consecutive victories.

But it should be underlined that at times Conceiçao has changed the formation during the game, and this is also a point of merit. Altering systems during the game can cloud the opponent’s ideas and references.

Sergio is enjoying it, he did it in Genoa and he proposed it again this time. On Friday, for example, he returned to the old 4-2-3-1 when Gimenez came on and it worked, but in the meantime the anger is great because waking up when it is too late amplifies the regret.

In any case, net of the tactical interpretations, that balance that was missing has been found. It’s not all perfect, of course: the three goals conceded in this recent run hide fairly obvious errors in individuals and departments.

However, these are situations that become remediable because they no longer happen as frequently. In essence, Milan are not suffering multiple counterattacks in the open field as happened some time ago. The areas of the field are more covered, the players feel more confident and you can see it.

In-game changes

As in Genoa, just to stay in the more recent past, against Bologna the difference was made by those who came on. At the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo against Venezia, Gimenez and Joao Felix came on and made an impact.

Against Genoa, Rafael Leao, Joao and Gimenez were decisive. On Friday, Conceiçao pulled the great forgotten Samuel Chukwueze out of his hat, who started tearing through Bologna’s defensive phase. Samu was involved in all the goals, always choosing the best option to send his teammates to the net.

The rest was done by Gimenez, more or less put in a drawer and forgotten about until a couple of weeks ago. We don’t know if Milan will really be able to make the most of one of these three weapons at Stadio Olimpico, but it is an interesting base with which to try to get their hands on the cup.