By: Rohit Rajeev

AC Milan saved their best preseason performance for their final friendly as they emerged victors in a six-goal thriller against Manchester United.

United twice let in Wroclaw as Harry Maguire headed in a corner and Patrick Dorgu pounced on a mistake either side of Samuel Chukwueze’s leveller eight minutes before the break, but the Rossoneri came roaring back and left Michael Carrick’s men shellshocked.

Alphadjo Cisse turned in an equaliser, then just over 10 minutes later Goncalo Ramos headed in the go-ahead goal. Ruben Loftus-Cheek made sure of the victory not long after that in what was a thoroughly encouraging second-half display.

For Ruben Amorim it will have been nice to get one over on his former employers, and to lift the Super Mecz trophy to round off preseason. Rohit Rajeev has analysed the game from a tactical point of view.

Eight key concepts

For Milan, it was another opportunity to see how Amorim’s instructions were translating onto the pitch. There are eight key aspects worth pointing out which best demonstrate it.

Concept 1: United primarily held a 4-3-3, but this could shift into a 4-2-4 depending on Patrick Dorgu’s positioning.

Their front three pressed high, while Jashari could drop deeper to create a 4v3 overload, giving Milan an extra option to progress against the press.

Concept 2: Milan pushed up with a front five when United tried to build from the back, using their positioning to manipulate passing lanes rather than simply chasing the ball.

Ramos blocked Maguire’s option back to the goalkeeper, while the rest of the front line kept passing options in the shadows and overloaded the centre.

The press then forced the ball into Tielemans. Bruno came across to support, but Pavlovic followed him aggressively. Tielemans’ forward pass was intercepted, before Jashari immediately pressed him and forced the turnover.

Concept 3: Milan regularly gathered players around the ball to create ball sided overloads, drawing more of the opposition towards one side of the pitch.

The idea is simple: attract pressure, then exploit the space created on the opposite flank.
Once United were shifted across, Milan could quickly switch play towards the opposite wing-back, giving him the space to progress without immediate pressure.

CONCEPT 3
Milan regularly gathered players around the ball to create ball sided overloads, drawing more of the opposition towards one side of the pitch.
The idea is simple: attract pressure, then exploit the space created on the opposite flank.
Once United were shifted across,… pic.twitter.com/e6IOnB6v4c

— Rohit Rajeev (@keralista) August 16, 2026

Concept 4: During these ball sided overloads, Milan also create staggered vertical passing lanes, positioning players at different heights while keeping them in close proximity.

This gives the ball carrier multiple short options and makes one touch combinations possible, allowing Milan to quickly play through pressure and maintain the momentum of the attack.

Concept 5: Milan showed greater intensity immedia...

SempreMilancom

Message History

Delivery option(s)