Lack of spirit, very little incisiveness but above all a hard defeat to digest that put the Cagliari of Claudio Ranieri with his back against the wall ahead of the last two days of the championship against Sassuolo And Florentine. The 5-1 at San Siro against a Milan found precisely in the most delicate moment of the season was one one-way race in favor of the hosts. Let’s see in detail from Opta the numbers of the match between the Rossoneri and the Rossoblù.
The nightmare called Devil
The Milan he found victory again in A league for the first time since 6 April (3-0 home against Lecce), ended a run of four consecutive games without a win in the competition (D3, L1). Starting from the season of Serie A 1998/99 the Rossoneri collected 18 wins and 2 draws in home games played against Cagliari for an average points of 2.80 per game, the highest in the competition for a team against a single opponent faced at least 15 times at home in the period. Furthermore, the Lombards continue their positive tradition with the Sardinians in the top league with the 5-1 win last night, 11 May, winning for the forty-seventh time in official matches against the rossoblù. Furthermore, starting from the 2000s, the Cagliari is the team against which the Milan they have won more games in Serie A (29), at least three successes more than those obtained against any other team in the period.
The law of individuals
“Dura lex sed lex”said an old Latin saying that is “The law is harsh, but it is the law”. And it is precisely the law, that of individuals, that has made the difference at Milan. Above all he rose to prominence Christian Pulišić. The Rossoneri number 11, with his first brace in Serie A, became Milan’s first midfielder to score more than 10 goals, excluding penalties, in a single season since Kaká in 2005/06 (11). Another protagonist, another role. In the control room, with permission to insert in the central area, he did the good and the bad weather Ismaël Bennacer. The former Empoli playmaker returned to scoring in Serie A 371 days after the last time (6 May 2023 v Lazio); the midfielder scored two goals against Cagliari in the top flight and against no other team it has more (two also against Bologna). Furthermore, the Algerian scored a goal and provided an assist in a single Serie A match for the second time: the only previous one was on 23 October 2021 against Bologna. Special mention, however, for the Dutch Tijjani Reijnders. The former AZ player returned to scoring in Serie A for the first time since last December 17th (against Monza at home): the one against Cagliari is his first center from outside the area in the competition.
Travel sickness
The Cagliari confirms itself as a team that particularly suffers in away games. No participant in the Serie A championship currently underway has lost more away games compared to the Sardinians (12, together with Salernitana And Sassuolo).
The Award-Winning Company
The award-winning company from Milan, i.e. the one made up of Theo Hernandez And Rafael Leão, returned to put on a show and light up San Siro after the post-Genoa controversies. The French full-back of Spanish origins once again had his favorite victim in Cagliari voice assist (3, against no team in Serie A he did better). The Portuguese, however, served nine assists in this Serie Arecord of winning passes for him in a single season of the competition: the former Lille player had not scored or provided an assist in the same match in the competition since March 30th (against Fiorentina).
Extemporaneous rossoblù
Among Cagliari’s few offensive actions on the negative evening at San Siro was the one that led to the assist Hoe and to the goal of Nandez for the momentary 2-1 of the Sardinians. With the goal scored against Milan, Nahitan Nandez he has reached 2 goals in this championship, equaling the own goals record recorded in a single season of the tournament (also two in 2019/20 and 2020/21). Zappa, on the other hand, has been involved in four goals in this Serie A (one goal and three assists): in no season played in the competition has he been involved in more goals (four, all winning passes, also in 2020/21 again with the rossoblù) .
Sweet and bitter Cinquena
The Milan he scored at least five goals in a Serie A match for the first time since May 20, 2023 (5-1 home against Sampdoria). Furthermore, the Rossoneri have scored 16 players in this Serie A: only Inter and Fiorentina (both 17) have more different scorers in the current tournament (16 also for Cagliari and Roma). Bitter five for the Cagliariwhich returns to conceding 5 goals for the first time since 3 April 2022 (1-5 against Udinese, away).
The Editorial Staff
