The league billed Milan v Napoli as a showdown between two “Masters of Midfield”Luka Modric and Kevin De Bruyne, defining talents of a world football generation who each chose Serie A this summer. Players who have won a combined 58 trophies in their careers, including Champions League, La Liga and Premier League triumphs.
Past their prime? Certainly. But over the hill? Hardly. Modric, at 40 years old, had started Milan’s first four league games, taking more touches (329) and creating more shooting opportunities (19, per fbref.com) than any teammate. De Bruyne, at 34, was the only Napoli player with more than one goal so far this season, having struck in wins over Sassuolo and Fiorentina.
Even those numbers were reductive. If Modric’s shirt had quickly become the bestseller in Milan’s club shop, overtaking that of Rafael Leão, it was also because he said things fans yearned to hear. “Milan can’t be satisfied with mediocrity,” Modric insisted on signing his contract. “The club needs to set itself the biggest targets possible: winning titles and competing with the best teams in the world.”
We might remind ourselves here that Milan finished eighth last season. They had changed manager since then, bringing back Massimiliano Allegri to replace Sérgio Conceição, but still, expectations were not high when their CEO George Furlani told a press conference in June that there was “no need for a revolution” of the playing squad. Perhaps Modric helped shift his thinking, too.
By the time this summer’s transfer window shut, only nine of the 27 players who made up Milan’s squad at the start of last season had been retained. The Rossoneri’s new sporting director, Igli Tare, had completely reconstructed the roster, bidding farewell to first-teamers including Tijjani Reijnders, Theo Hernández and Malick Thiaw while adding the likes of Modric, Adrien Rabiot, Pervis Estupiñán, Ardon Jashari, Samuele Ricci and Christopher Nkunku.
Yet it has been a reinvention of familiar faces, as much as the introduction of new ones, that has transformed this team. Alexis Saelemaekers, after a year on loan at Roma, has returned to start as right wing-back in Allegri’s 3-5-2. Christian Pulisic has been pushed forward into a second striker role.
After all the talk of Modric and De Bruyne, it was Saelemaekers and Pulisic instead who set the course of Sunday night’s game, combining for a third-minute goal. Receiving a pass from Estupiñán inside Milan’s own half, Pulisic ran away from the defender Luca Marianucci over the next 50 yards before squaring the ball for Saelemaekers to finish on the far side.
Napoli had arrived at San Siro with four wins from their first four Serie A games, yet there were hints of vulnerability around the edges. A disappointing showing in the Champions League against Manchester City – albeit defined by an early red card for Giovanni Di Lorenzo – was followed by a surprisingly wobbly 3-2 win at home to Pisa.
Saelemaekers’s early goal allowed Milan to set the rules of engagement. Both these teams are happiest to stay compact and profit by punishing opponents who overstretch themselves. Milan were all too happy to be the ones who sat back and invited Napoli on to them.
It was easy to foresee a snatched second goal on the counter. In fact, Milan were able to claim one in more mundane fashion, punishing slack defending in a moment when Napoli had plenty back to repel them. Strahinja Pavlovic was advanced far too easily down the left, before centring the ball to an unmarked Youssouf Fofana, who laid it off for Pulisic to fire home.
Napoli were offered a way back into the game when Estupiñán gave away a penalty at the start of the second half, hauling back Di Lorenzo as he attacked the rebound from a Scott McTominay header. The former Brighton player was sent off following a VAR review. De Bruyne swept his spot-kick into the bottom corner to bring Napoli back into the game at 2-1. There was still half an hour left to play.
And yet the champions could not make their player advantage count. Milan bunkered up and Napoli could not break them down. Their closest chances at an equaliser were a pair of long-range shots by David Neres in injury time.
Did Antonio Conte get his substitutions wrong? He withdrew De Bruyne, McTominay and Rasmus Højlund all at once in the 73rd minute, and Matteo Politano soon afterwards.
These were like-for-like changes, introducing capable players off the bench, but it was hard to shake the impression of a manager with his mind on Wednesday’s Champions League game against Sporting. Conte’s initial team selection had already raised eyebrows, the starting centre-back Sam Beukema rested at a time when two alternatives – Amir Rrahmani and Alessandro Buongiorno – were already out injured along with both of Napoli’s top two left-backs.
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De Bruyne did not look impressed at being taken off, appearing to aim angry words at the manager and decline a handshake on his way to the dugout. “I hope that was him showing some frustration because of the scoreline,” said Conte later. “If not, he’s got the wrong person.” The contrasting visual was provided by Modric, a man who some had believed too old to make a difference, battling right to the end. It was his head that nudged the first of Neres’s injury-time efforts on to the bar. He had the last touch of the game, too, hoofing the ball into touch after getting told off for shouting at the referee to check his watch.
He led the celebrations, roaring at and embracing his teammates. As spellbinding as it is to watch him in possession – “EVERY TOUCH by Luka Modric” videos remain a popular choice on YouTube – there was something thrilling about this post-game version, too, still so evidently in love with his sport, with being part of a team, with winning.
Victory took Milan top, finishing the weekend level with Napoli and Roma on 12 points. Is it too soon to consider them title contenders? Allegri said afterwards that his team “still need 64 points to qualify for the Champions League”, an idiosyncratically precise framing but also a reminder of how young this season is.
Quick Guide
Serie A results
Show
Cagliari 0-2 Inter, Como 1-1 Cremonese, Juventus 1-1 Atalanta, Lecce 2-2 Bologna, Milan 2-1 Naples, Pisa 0-0 Fiorentina, Rome 2-0 Verona, Sassuolo 3-1 Udinese
Monday Parma V Torini (5.30pm Bst), Genoa V Lazio (7.45pm)
Still, the early signs from his Milan are promising. Fikayo Tomori spoke before kick-off about how Allegri has restored defensive structure, stopping players from chasing the ball around the pitch and focusing them on not leaving gaps behind.
A familiar Allegri formula: defend well and trust talented players to make things happen at the other end. Viral images of Leão, on as a late substitute, dribbling with six Napoli players chasing him, were a reminder that this team has scope to get more dangerous going forward. The Portuguese was making his first league appearance of the seasonafter a calf injury.
For all the fascination with Milan’s retooled squad, their greatest upgrade this summer may simply have been to bring back Allegri, 14 years after he earned his first Serie A title with them. He followed that up by replacing Conte at Juventus, where he went on to win another five.
Between them, these two managers have claimed 11 of the past 15 Scudetti. It would hardly be a shock if one of them triumphed again this time around. Allegri this season is enjoying the same advantage that Conte enjoyed last term, leading a team that failed to qualify for Europe and can put all its focus into domestic success. Having Luka Modric in your team, on top of that, can hardly hurt.
