Milan Player Ratings: Milan 3-0 Sparta Prague

After a very weird match against Roma, Milan turned their attention to Europa League where they faced Sparta Prague. Manager Stefano Pioli rested key figures like Franck Kessie and Theo Hernandez. However, he still denied to rest Zlatan Ibrahimovic. With a rotated squad Milan still looked prime for victory. For much of the first half Milan controlled and dictated most of the possession. In the 24th minute Milan went on a break where Zlatan found Brahim Diaz who scored to give Milan the lead. Just minutes after Zlatan was taken down in the box and awarded a penalty. Zlatan stepped up and clanked it off the cross bar and out. This seemed to give Sparta Prague some confidence as near the end of the half they went on the attack more often. After 45 minutes Milan maintained a 1-0 lead.

That little hope that Sparta Prague had at the end of the second half completely went away at the start of the second. Once the second half whistle blew Milan were the dominate team once again. They created scoring chance after scoring chance and actually looked good without Ibra on the pitch. With all of their scoring chances they finally scored as Rafael Leao tapped it in off a beautiful assist from Dalot. Milan scored again in the 66th minute with Diogo Dalot scoring his first goal for the Rossoneri. Milan had more chances to build their lead but failed to capitalize. After 90 minutes Milan secured 3 points with a 3-0 win.

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STARTING LINE-UP

Ciprian Tatarusanu: A game where Tatarusanu doesn't make a mistake! Hopefully this match brought his confidence back. 6/10

Davide Calabria: After having a shaky match against Roma, Calabria returned to form against Sparta Prague. Calabria locked down the right side. 6.5/10

Simon Kjaer: Another master performance from Kjaer. His steadiness at the back is outstanding. 7/10

Alessio Romagnoli: Romagnoli also had a bit of a stinker against Roma but he also bounced back in the Europa League match. Yes, the competition was worse but Romagnoli seems to be getting more match fit. 6.7/10

Diogo Dalot: Playing as an inverted fullback Dalot was great. His assist to Leao was beautiful and he had a nice composed finish. If Dalot continues his form then he could see himself getting more minutes on either side. 7.5/10

Sandro Tonali: Against Sparta Prague we saw progression in Tonali’s game. Little by little he seems to be getting more comfortable at Milan. He made some beautiful plays on the ball but also had a few wild passes. However it is a progression. 7/10

Ismael Bennacer: An absolutely fantastic game from Bennacer. He controlled the game and dictated the pace. His passes to Dalot were crucial to help Milan extend their lead. 8/10

Samu Castillejo: This was Samu's time to shine but he laid another egg. No disrespect to Sparta Prague but Samu should have played better than he did. With rumours flying of a RW purchase in January, Samu’s days might be numbered. 5.5/10

Brahim Diaz: If Brahim continues to play like this then Milan have to snatch him up sooner rather than later. Diaz was creative and showed his full array of skills. He again scored with a nice finish. Against Sparta Prague we could see him not holding on to the ball as much and making the smart play. 7.5/10

Rade Krunic: Krunic played fine as usual and like usual nothing spectacular. One thing I would like Krunic to do is play faster. Sometimes of the pitch he looks slow and stiff, occasionally not making the pass straight away. 6/10

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: On Thursday Zlatan looked tired. He didn't have a terrible match as he got an assist and won a penalty but you can see the games are weighing on him a bit. 6.5/10

SUBSTITUTES

Rafael Leao: This was a great match for Rafa. His movement and positioning up top looked so much better than what he has showed in the past. I also saw that some of Leao’s simpler passes were more crisp and he was smarter on the ball. 7/10

Andrea Conti: Conti got his first minutes back from injury and looked like the Conti Milan fans saw at the end of the season last year. 6/10

Leao Duarte: A game where Duarte doesn't make a mistake is a good enough game for me. 6/10

Franck Kessie: Franck came in and his presence was immediately felt as he made tackle after tackle. Plus it was nice to see Franck with the captains armband. 6.5/10

Daniel Maldini: N/A