A tactical reshuffle failed to pay off for Milan’s manager, leaving recent calls, not least regarding Rafael Leão, open to questionNicky Bandini

At the southern end of San Siro, Milan’s Ultras did their best to set a tone. “The champions of Italy welcome the champions of Arabia,” read the banner hung from that dizzyingly vertical second tier, reminding Inter counterparts at the far end that a Supercoppa victory in Riyadh could never mean as much as a scudetto.

There was just one problem: nobody has seen Milan’s title-winning side since before the World Cup. The team who have taken the pitch in 2023 are the palest of imitations, familiar faces playing unrecognisable football. They had won one out of seven games so far this calendar year, and lost the last three by a combined scoreline of 12-2.

In the lead-up to this derby, Stefano Pioli sequestered his squad for a behind-closed-doors training retreat. He needed to shake things up, though not everyone might have shared his conviction that sidelining his best player was the way to do so.

Rafael Leão was Serie A’s player of the year last season, and has been Milan’s top scorer and leading assist provider so far in this campaign. Just like his teammates, he had struggled to find his best form in 2023, yet he still bagged a goal in the only win of the year, away to Salernitana, and another in the 2-2 draw at Lecce.

Pioli had already dropped Leão to the bench for the preceding game, which ended in a 5-2 home defeat to Sassuolo. Instead of restoring him to the starting XI, as most expected, against Inter, the manager responded by abandoning the 4-2-3-1 formation that carried them to first place last season.

On paper, Sunday’s team looked like a 3-5-2. In practice, with wing-backs Davide Calabria and Theo Hernández showing little adventure, Milan had a five-man defence. A team whose winning identity under Pioli had been built on possession football and a high press chose to approach the derby in an unfamiliar low block.
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