AC Milan vs. Roma: Winners and Losers from Serie A
Both AC Milan and AS Roma went into Saturday's game at the San Siro in Milan needing a win and some help to jump into more advantageous positions in European competition.
For Milan, a win and a Sassuolo loss at Inter would see them secure a berth in the UEFA Europa League regardless of the result of next week's Coppa Italia final against Juventus. Roma had already qualified for the UEFA Champions League, but if they won and Napoli dropped points, they would finish second and get straight to the group stage without having to play in the pesky playoff round—a stage that has troubled Italian clubs for almost a decade.
The Giallorossi ended up being the only ones who really showed up. They dominated Milan from the start and rampaged to a 3-1 win behind goals from Mohamed Salah, Stephan El Shaarawy and Emerson. While they didn't get the required help, the future is bright under returned coach Luciano Spalletti, and if they can keep this team together they have a real chance of shedding their long-held moniker as underachievers.
Milan, on the other hand, are in the worst-possible scenario. Their chances of getting to Europe now rest on beating the five-time defending champions of Italy—a prospect that looks even dimmer when Saturday's limp performance is compared to the 5-0 annihilation Juventus laid on Sampdoria earlier in the day.
As Milan's future darkens and Roma's brightens, we at Bleacher Report take a look back on Saturday's match to identify the winners and losers of this important last-day affair.
Winner: Kevin Strootman
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Two years ago Kevin Strootman was one of the most promising players not only in Serie A, but also in the world. A do-everything box-to-box midfielder, it was a coup for Roma to sign him, and combined with the likes of Daniele De Rossi, Radja Nainggolan and Miralem Pjanic, he could have given Roma an all-world midfield.
But a serious knee injury cost Strootman almost all of the last two seasons. After two abortive attempts at a comeback in February and March, Strootman finally made his real return on May 2, playing all 90 minutes against Genoa.
In this, his third match since returning for good, he made a heck of an impact. His perfect pass to Salah on 19 minutes saw Roma open the scoring, and according to WhoScored.com, he completed an impressive 93.2 percent of his passes.
It was an impressive way to mark his return to full fitness and a sign he can perhaps get his once-promising career back on track.
Loser: Alex
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The entire defensive line deserves to be in this category, but the 34-year-old Brazilian deserves special mention here.
In the space of two minutes, the centre-back made a pair of monumental mistakes—one that should have given Roma the lead and one that did.
The first, in the 17th minute, was a horrific back pass that allowed Salah to make one of his supercharged runs down the field. Philippe Mexes was able to make the angle somewhat difficult for him, but the Egypt international still should have scored.
Two minutes later, Salah and Alessandro Florenzi were standing in a gaggle on the far side of the field when Kevin Strootman chipped a long pass forward. Inexplicably, Alex was playing both Roma players onside from clear across the field, and Salah easily latched onto the Dutch midfielder's pass and slotted the ball past a stranded Gianluigi Donnarumma.
If that wasn't enough, he was caught flat-footed by a Stephan El Shaarawy's pass through the middle of the field for Roma's second score in the 59th minute.
Alex's contract is up this year, and after a surprisingly effective season last year, it looks like age has finally caught up to him. If there were any questions as to whether he would remain at Milan next year, this game probably put that question to bed.
Winner: Stephan El Shaarawy
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Another player whose promising breakout was interrupted time and again by injury, Stephan El Shaarawy was playing Milan for the first time since he was sent out on loan this season.
His slow start to the season saw Monaco decline to give him enough appearances to trigger his mandatory purchase option, so he was recalled in January and sent to Roma, where he's impressed. He came in with seven goals since arriving at the Olimpico, and he made it eight in the 59th minute.
Breaking past a static Alex and into space, he picked out a perfect Miralem Pjanic pass and easily slotted it home. Credit should be given to the 23-year-old for the respect he showed the Milan fans by declining to celebrate his strike.
It was a great way to stick it to a team that has given up on him and another piece of evidence in his case to be included in the Italy squad for the European Championships.
Loser: Carlos Bacca
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Carlos Bacca started the season like gangbusters, but as the year has worn on, he has become more and more absent.
Part of that stems from the fact he requires decent service in order to get his chances, but even when he does get them, he hasn't been converting them the way he was. On Saturday he was totally absent. Mario Balotelli was the striker Cristian Brocchi took off at halftime, and his final product had been disappointing, but at least he had had a product to be disappointed about.
Bacca made no impact whatsoever until four minutes from time, when he tried to redirect a Davide Calabria cross with his chest and then tapped home the rebound after Wojciech Szczesny's save.
Apart from the absence of service, another reason for Bacca's regression could simply be fatigue. Consider: In the two seasons prior to this, Bacca went to the UEFA Europa League final twice and played for Colombia in both the World Cup and the Copa America. That's a ton of football, and it makes sense that he could be losing his legs.
One thing is certain, as Bacca's goals have dried up, so has Milan's form. If they have any hope of beating Juventus in the Coppa final, they need him to play his best.
Winner: Gianluigi Donnarumma
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It was painful to watch the 17-year-old goalkeeper get peppered with shot after shot.
He was up to most of them and made several world-class saves, but there was nothing he could do for any of Roma's goals.
His defense simply left him out to dry on both of the first two goals, and he saved Salah's shot in the 82nd minute before Emerson slammed home the rebound.
Even when he did make a grievous mistake, collecting a long back pass from Giacomo Bonaventura with his hands, he made a phenomenal save with his right hand when Francesco Totti's indirect free-kick deflected off a member of the wall and took a weird swerve.
Donnarumma is the brightest part of Milan's future and was the lone bright spot of Saturday's game, but the Rossoneri need to put a team ahead of him that can allow his talent to turn into success.
Loser: Cristian Brocchi
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What on earth was Brocchi doing?
In Milan's biggest game of the year, Brocchi put out a lineup that could only be described as experimental.
Promising young star Manuel Locatelli started in place of Riccardo Montolivo as the team's regista in a 4-3-1-2 formation. This would have been welcomed three or four weeks ago, but to give him his maiden Serie A start—after only getting him two minutes of playing time in the league so far this season—against a top-three team in a must-win scenario was far too much to ask the youngster.
He didn't make much of a creative impact, and at times looked totally unable to cope with one of Italy's best midfields. His future is bright, but he shouldn't have been put into this situation to begin with.
Then there was the back line. From right to left, Brocchi's starting defense was Mattia De Sciglio, Philippe Mexes, Alex and Alessio Romagnoli. Why he would play his team's prize centre-back signing from the past summer out of position—and why he would play the error-prone and hardly used Mexes at all—against Serie A's best attack boggles the mind.
Without any pace in the middle of the defense, Salah and El Shaarawy were able to repeatedly get over the top or slice through gaps in the line. The players were unfamiliar with each other and could barely keep their lines straight. It looked as though Brocchi was trying to play an offside trap, but they failed repeatedly—a death sentence against an attack with this much pace.
Pulled into the first team from the youth sector after Silvio Berlusconi's baffling decision to fire Sinisa Mihajlovic, Brocchi was out of his depth from the beginning of this misadventure, and under his direction a team that was relatively secure in the top six is now a game away from being excluded from European competition for the third consecutive year.
This isn't Brocchi's fault. He should never have been put into this situation, but he didn't do himself or his club any favors with his decisions on Saturday night.
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