A stand-off approach and the 3-5-2: Tactical analysis of AC Milan 0-1 Atalanta | OneFootball

AC Milan hit double digits in league defeats for the season on Sunday night as Atalanta left San Siro with all three points.

The first half saw the visitors on the ball a lot more but without creating any real danger, then in the second half Milan were on the ascendency right before the sucker-punch came. Ederson scored the only goal just after the hour mark, condemning the Rossoneri to a 10th Serie A loss in 2024-25.

For the first time since his arrival at the end of December, Sergio Conceicao named an unchanged starting line-up for consecutive league games. That meant the three-man defence remained, with Christian Pulisic, Luka Jovic and Rafael Leao the front three.

Nonetheless, it did not yield the result that it did in Udinese, as Milan failed to score and failed to keep a clean sheet. Rohit Rajeev‘s tactical analysis picks apart another frustrating night.

A challenge repeated

In the game against Udinese, we highlighted a challenge for Milan whereby they were getting outnumbered in the centre while building out from the back, and it needed to be seen how it would be tackled again.

Against Atalanta there was a small variation in which Matteo Gabbia would move out from the line of centre-backs and join the double pivot, thereby allowing Mike Maignan to push up and join the build-up.

It allowed Tijjani Reijnders and/or Youssouf Fofana to become a quasi attacking midfielder. It is something very similar to what Ruben Amorim did with Sporting CP and is trying to do with Manchester United.

However, when playing higher up, the build-up structure was a 3+2.

Once again, Atalanta were easily able to stifle Milan’s left wing, creating a 3v2 with Theo Hernandez and Rafael Leao outnumbered. (Somebody needs to do something about it).

In defence, Milan wanted to clog the centre and would move as a block depending on which side Atalanta tried to play out.

Milan would also create 4v4 on the flanks to not allow Atalanta to our number them on the wings.

A stand-off approach

Milan were content to sit back and clog the centre, not allowing Atalanta to play through the middle. Atalanta created space through various manoeuvres.

In one variation, they would have Ederson sit back into defence, allowing De Roon to push up to exploit the space between midfield and defence.

The defence, meanwhile, is pinned back by Cuadrado and Retegui. And while Milan were centrally prevalent, Pasalic dropped into the wide areas to receive the ball.

Another method of creating separation is when Cuadrado stays wide while Pasalic stays inside and Retegui stays vertically, to not allow Milan to compress between the lines.

Not a 3-4-3

Milan meanwhile played a 3-5-2 system on the ball where Leao played centrally alongside Jovic while Pulisic dropped into midfield to play as an 8.

Counter-attacks were Milan’s main source of attack in the first half as they ceded possession and wanted to use the pace of Leao to attack the spaces behind.

In the second half, Milan used a more methodical approach trying to break down Atalanta. This lovely exchange on the right flank broke down Atalanta but didn’t lead to even a shot.

The killer goal

Finally, the Atalanta goal. Atalanta created a 5v4 in the build-up with Ederson being unmarked thanks to Fofana not pushing up to mark his man.

Despite a 4v4 being created in an attack, Atalanta were easily able to pump in the numbers into the box as one can see Retegui is unmarked waiting for the cross.

What’s most baffling is that Fofana was ball watching while Ederson was gearing up to head the ball in.