TORONTO, Canada: It is blatantly obvious that AC Milan is a club in transition after succumbing to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of a superior Olympiacos side Thursday evening. It was the only fixture of the Guinness International Champions Cup to be held at BMO Field in Toronto.
AC Milan Work In Progress
Newly appointed manager Filippo Inzaghi revealed that he “did not expect much” heading into the match due to the lack of training sessions his squad has taken part in as a whole, especially the members who participated in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil – Mario Balotelli appearing in just three sessions under his new manager for instance. This was his rational for resting the main attractions, the Italian duo of Balotelli and Ignazio Abate, as well as the Ghanaian duo of Michael Essien and Sulley Ali Muntari. Kevin Constant and former Brazillian national team member Robinho were also not named to the squad. The match had been billed as “Balotelli vs. Olympiacos” in advertisements leading up to the event; safe to say that the fact he was not even dressed disgruntled some supporters – the “We Want Balo” chants had commenced by the 9th minute.
Aside from a missed volley by Giampaolo “Pazzo” Pazzini in the latter part of the first half and a crossbar early into the second, it was a match controlled by Olympiacos and their fantastic counter attacking football. Alejandro Dominguez surprised Milan in the early stages of the first half to make it 1-0 and Dimitris Diamantakos slotted a fine finish from the edge of the box in the 49th minute. To top off a dominant display by the Greek side, Andreas Bouchalakis unleashed a wicked, bending shot in the 78th minute that put the feverish Olympiacos fans into a flare-igniting frenzy, with multiple fans running on the field to take “selfies” with their idols.
An experimental lineup was fielded by the new AC Milan manager, with many substitutes introduced for the purpose of developing familiarity. Stated Inzaghi of the match, “There are many positives to take from the game despite the result… I liked the spirit, the desire… we now look forward to our match on Sunday against Manchester City”.
23-year-old Michelangelo Albertazzi, who spent the last several seasons on loan with Hellas Verona was given the first half to impress at Milan’s left-back. Like many of the young players utilized in this Champions Cup fixture by the Rossoneri, he is fighting for a place on the squad. When asked exclusively by Last Word On Sports regarding what the future holds, he answered “As of now, I do not know. For now I will give it my best shot in this tournament with Milan. I’m only thinking about Milan”.
An oversaturated week of friendlies at BMO contributed to the lack of fans present at the match, this being the fourth of five events to be held in six days. The announced attendance was just over 10,000, less than half of the maximum capacity with a majority of those clad in the red and black stripes that AC Milan are famous for. Despite this, the minority of Olympiacos supporters were far more vocal than their Italian counterparts, on their feet and singing their hearts out for the full 90 minutes.
“It’s difficult when you arrive at 2:00 in the morning after travelling [for the past several days]… The most important thing is that no one was injured” sighed Inzaghi.
The method in which Milan conceded all of their goals was simply through poor defensive organization – a lack of marking, of proper man management and pressure applied that may be linked to unfamiliarity between players. The indecisiveness was not limited to the backline; it was evident throughout the entire squad and could be vividly observed in the ball distribution of the midfield. Stephan El Shaaraway played all 90 minutes and threatened when given the ball, but this would be rare – even rarer for target man Giampaolo Pazzini. Milan without many of their stalwarts took on an Olympiacos squad looking to impress – and impress they did with their counter attacking football and superb possession play.
For Canadian soccer supporters there were several Canadian “Easter Eggs” in the match. Silviu Petrescu, one of MLS’ leading match officials hailing from Waterloo, Ontario was handed the officiating duties. Milan youngster Bryan Cristante, who played the entire 90 minutes forming half of the Milan central midfield duo is Italian-born yet holds a Canadian passport due to his father being a Canadian citizen. It is potentially a sneak peek for the Toronto crowd to view what could be its nation’s midfield stalwart for years to come. That is, of course, only if his career continues along the trajectory that it has and if he opts to play for Canada over Italy, which considering how previous cases of dual-nationality have panned out, is pretty slim.
Worst of the match:
Mbaye Niang; terrible deliveries, terrible finishing, lack of desire and consistently losing possession for his team. Renowned as one of the fastest wingers in the world, he did not test an Olympiacos backline which included the likes of former Barcelona veteran Eric Abidal as much as he should have; very disappointing effort from him.
Best of the match:
Andreas Bouchalakis; upon entering the match in the 72nd minute he scored an absolute stunner just minutes later, a fantastic finish from outside the area into the far upper left corner of the goal. Goals are seldom this perfect, the icing on the cake for Olympiacos’ deserved victory.
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