Swissquote match analysis: Roma 2-1 Milan
Friday, April 19, 2024
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UEFA's Technical Observer Panel analyse Roma's 2-1 second-leg victory over Milan.
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In this article brought to you by Swissquote, UEFA technical observer and Norway Under-21 coach Jan Peder Jalland, working together with UEFA's analysis unit, discusses Roma's 2-1 victory over Milan in the second leg of their quarter-final tie.
During the victory, Daniele De Rossi's side demonstrated a variety of ways to play through and over Milan's man-for-man high press as well as their ability to effectively defend their penalty area. Roma will face Leverkusen in the semi-final.
Roma play through and over Milan’s man-for-man high press
Trailing 1-0 from the first leg, Milan arrived at the Stadio Olimpico intent to disrupt Roma's build-up play and find a way back into the tie. To prevent the home side comfortably starting attacking moves, Stefano Pioli's side adopted a man-for-man high press.
"It was clear from the first minute that Milan were employing a man-to-man pressing strategy," noted Jalland. "However, Roma exploited the 1v1s which were created from this system. In the first clip we see how Roma create passing lanes to beat the press and progress up the pitch."
Although Roma should be praised for their ability to play through the pressure, Milan's inability to make contact with their marker and apply effective pressure on the ball presented the home side with the opportunity to build the play.
A key feature of Roma's build-up play involved Gianluca Mancini stepping out from the backline into more advanced positions. In the first clip, we see how the defender joins the forward line to create a 4v3 situation after a more direct pass eliminates Milan's press. In the second clip, it is Mancini who again strides out from the back with the ball and disrupts the visitors' pressing structure. The Italian international opened the scoring in both legs of this tie and is a key part of Roma's attacking and defensive strategies.
Roma's varied build-up play was notable. At appropriate moments, the home side were happy to play directly into centre forward Romelu Lukaku. The final clip in this sequence shows how they cleverly draw Milan's central midfield players out of their screening positions before releasing Lukaku into the channel between central defender and full-back. The space for Lukaku to spin into is cleverly created by Paulo Dybala's movement off the frontline.
"Roma were effective at playing over Milan's press," noted Jalland. "In the third clip, we see them accepting the pressure from Milan's midfield and playing into Lukaku, who in a 1v1 situation is very dangerous. The goal comes from Milan struggling to reset their man-to-man structure. As Milan defender Fikayo Tomori jumps to engage with Dybala, the 1v1 for Lukaku to exploit is created."
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Roma defend their penalty box with energy, aggression and organisation
As highlighted in their round of 16 victory over Brighton, Roma are highly skilled at defending their penalty box. Both before and after Zeki Çelik’s sending-off in the 31st minute, De Rossi’s side showed their ability to defend their penalty box through intelligent positioning, winning aerial duels, providing cover in wide areas and being quick to step out after the first action.
"When Roma are defending their penalty box, they are compact, show great energy and aggression and make it hard for the opposition to break them down," explained Jalland. "The three clips show players putting their body on the line to block shots, press attackers and win the first and second contacts."
The clips also highlight Roma’s tactical flexibility at different stages of the game – defending with a backline of four as well as a five depending on the circumstances. It should also be noted how the wide players in their midfield organisation provided cover and support for their full-backs when the ball moved into wide areas. Resultantly, Milan's wide players had the challenge of facing two defenders.
Milan attempt to break Roma's resistance through wide play
Milan endured a tough evening in attack and routinely struggled to penetrate Roma's strong defensive structure. The visitors' attacking strategy largely focused on attacking on the outside of Roma’s solid central shape where Pioli's side attempted to deliver crosses from wide areas.
"With Roma holding their compact shape throughout the match, Milan looked to find their wide players to play 1v1 against a defender, or cross the ball into the box," said Jalland. "The chance created for Luka Jović at the end of the clip highlights the threat they posed in this area. Milan switched the play from winger to winger to create a 1v1 situation for Rafael Leão, who finds Jović with a good cross. Unfortunately, he was unable to score and Milan missed an opportunity to get back into the tie."