Milan Player Ratings: Milan 1-1 Lille

On Thursday night AC Milan played Lille in the Europa League. Milan still coached by Daniele Bonera fielded a starting eleven that gave rest to some key players. In the starting eleven Bonera/Pioli elected to put Ante Rebic up top to lead the line. Matteo Gabbia, Sandro Tonali and Jans Petter Hauge all saw themselves gifted an opportunity in the starting elven to see what they could do. At times the first half was a fairly boring affair as Milan saw much of the possession but found it hard to break through the Lille defence. Admittedly Milan were the side that had more scoring chances based on creativity. Where the scoring chances from Lille were more based on mistakes from Milan. However the Milan squad didn't have that extra quality that they usually have, their passes weren't crisp and they weren't moving the ball nearly quick enough. At the half the match remained a goalless draw.

Milan got off to a hot start in the second half as they scored basically instantaneously. Ante Rebic found himself on the break after a nice pass form Sandro Tonali, Rebic passed it to Samu Castillejo who tapped it home. Then the second half became like the first with Milan having the bulk of possession but not really going anywhere with it. Milan had chances here and there but were missing that final touch. In the 64th minute Lille capitalized on their opportunity as Bamba tied it. For the rest of the match much of it played the same with Milan having possession but nowhere to go. After 90 minutes Milan drew 1-1.

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STARTING LINE-UP

Gianluigi Donnarumma: Gigio played well again against Lille. He couldn't do much of anything about the goal and made stops when he needed. 6.5/10

Diogo Dalot: Dalot wasn't very noticeable on the pitch he wasn't great but he also wasn't awful. He had a few moments where his positioning was off, thus forcing Kjaer to cover for him. Dalot also didn't bring much to the table offensively in this match either. 6/10

Simon Kjaer: Continues to be Milan’s rock on the back line. Clearly Milan’s best defender again today. But I did see him get twisted up then falling on one of Lille’s attacks 6.7/10

Matteo Gabbia: Am I crazy to say that Gabbia today was better than Alessio has been since he came back. Gabbia looked solid and more importantly confident against Lille. This was a promising performance. 6.5/10

Theo Hernandez: Theo was good today, not overly amazing but still good. He made a few nice runs going forward and attempted to swing in crosses for the forwards. On the other end he didn't let much past him. But again we rely on Theo to play basically every match and that is a recipe for disaster. 6.5/10

Ismael Bennacer: Bennacer wasn't as good as he was against Napoli but he was still one of the better players on the team. He found it hard to find space as Lille were closing in on him and denying him the ball at every opportunity. 6/10

Sandro Tonali: Aside from the one nice pass that freed up Rebic, Tonali was kinda terrible. Most of his passes were off and at times his touch was awful. One injury could force Tonali to become full time starter and right now I don't think he is ready for that. 5/10

Samu Castillejo: I know Samu played because on Thursday because of injuries but I do not want him playing for Milan again. He brings nothing to the table. 5.5/10

Hakan Calhanoglu: Hakan doesn't seem to have his mind focused on the game right now. Maybe he is thinking about his next contract a bit too much. If Hakan doesn't return I won't be the saddest as I believe we need mentality strong players to play for Milan. 5.5/10

Jans Petter Hauge: We saw a not as confident Hague who didn't trust himself. Confidence is a big part of football and that is especially evident in attacking players. Once Hauge missed the pass to give Milan the lead he didn't look the same. He has to be confident in himself and shake those things off. 6/10

Ante Rebic: Rebic at striker isn't what this Milan team needs as of right now. Rebic isn't a player that can hold up play and pass it onto the wings, instead he is a player that must be played through on goal. 6/10

SUBSTITUTES

Brahim Diaz: Diaz is skillful he showed that again against Lille but his size and unwillingness to give up the ball could be problematic. He needs to pass up the ball quicker if scoring chances are to be created. 6/10

Lorenzo Colombo: Lorenzo got a decent chunk of minutes but didn't get a decent chunk of the ball. In the few touches he had he looked ok but we shouldn't be relying on an 18 year old kid to lead the line against Lille. 5.5/10

Rade Krunic: N/A