In the Zone: Milan a tough nut to crack

AC Milan have been undergoing a dramatic defensive transformation as their UEFA Champions League campaign has unfolded.

In our latest FedEx Performance Zone stats dive, we take a look at how the Rossoneri's rearguard have spearheaded their change of fortunes from potential group-stage casualties to serious contenders for a spot in the semi-finals.

Four games into their European adventure, Milan were third in their section and had conceded seven goals. Since then, they have have won four of their five matches and kept a clean sheet in all five outings, their latest coming in a gritty 1-0 victory over runaway Serie A leaders Napoli in their Champions League quarter-final first leg.

That run is even more astonishing when you consider they have had to change their centre-back pairing in a back four or switch formation to a 3-5-2 in every game. In fact, Simon Kjær and Fikayo Tomori are the only partnership to have played together more than once, the second of those coming in their latest victory.

Kjær was Milan's top scorer against Napoli, his 32 points being doubled to 64 due to tallies being multiplied by two in each game at this stage of the competition. The 34-year-old has only made four appearances in the competition this season but the Rossoneri are yet to concede with him on the field.

His latest clean sheet earned him 18 points with three clearances (six points), two blocks (four points), one tackle (four points) and a team-high 11 ball recoveries (22 points) boosting his tally. That haul lifted him from 236th in the rankings before the quarter-finals to 87th at the end of the first legs.

Theo Hernández – the only one of Stefano Pioli's defenders to play in all of their last five games – recovered possession five times (ten points) for the third game in a row with three clearances (six points) his highest in that metric this season, though Tomori was even more impressive with six recoveries (12 points) and four clearances (eight points). As a result, the pair rose 77 and 89 places respectively in the rankings.

A word too for the man behind the Milan defence, Mike Maignan, whose 66-point haul on Wednesday was only bettered that night by Real Madrid's Karim Benzema. The French goalkeeper's total included 24 points for his clean sheet and 30 points for making five saves – proof that the Rossoneri's resurgence has truly been a team effort.