In Focus: Red-hot Milan are the real deal this season

A resurgent AC Milan finished as runners-up in Serie A last season — and they are looking to go one better this time around.

Unbeaten after 12 Serie A games and level on points with Napoli at the top of the table, the Rossoneri have started in spectacular form.

After falling away in the latter months of the last campaign, it remains to be seen whether they can sustain a title challenge.

As Stefano Pioli’s outfit head to Fiorentina tonight, we take a look at how the 18-time Scudetto winners can secure a first championship in 11 years.

First goal wins

Milan have opened the scoring in a league-high nine games this season, winning every single one of them.

Their opponents fought back to level the scores in three of those matches but the Rossoneri weathered the storm and emerged victorious on each occasion, going on to put four goals past Cagliari and Bologna.

Milan have only come from behind to win once so far — though they did it with the character of aspiring champions, scoring three second-half goals to overturn a 2-0 deficit against Verona last month.

Popular Pioli

It helps to have a manager who the players enjoy working for — with defender Simon Kjaer full of praise for Pioli.

The Denmark captain said: "First of all he is an excellent coach.

"At the same time he is also a fantastic person who takes care of all his players, creating at the same time a team-level structure both on and off the pitch.

"Then he wanted more experienced players, we were signed by Milan to bring a certain culture on and off the pitch.

"His trust in me is 100% and also we support it 100%."

Sharing the goals around

Even at the age of 40, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is still out there causing nightmares for defenders. 

Injury has restricted the legendary Swede to only six league appearances this season but he has managed to find the net three times at a rate of 0.95 goals per 90 minutes.

Yet Milan are not overly reliant on one of the all-time great strikers — he has only accounted for just over 11% of their 26 goals.

The Rossoneri may not have any runners in the Capocannoniere race at this stage. But with Olivier Giroud and Rafael Leao contributing four Serie A goals apiece and Brahim Diaz three, they appear to have a healthy spread of scorers across the team.

Applying the pressure

Milan’s aggressive pressing is helping them stay hot on Napoli’s heels. It is a feature that has become a hallmark of the club’s approach since Pioli took over in October 2019.

No side in Serie A have forced more high turnovers than their 104 this season, of which 22 have resulted in shots.

They are suffocating their opponents by working relentlessly to win the ball back high up the pitch and, so far, it is paying dividends.

An upside to European struggles?

After four games, Milan sit bottom of their Champions League group with just a single point. Fail to beat Atletico Madrid on Wednesday and they will be out of the competition — and Europe altogether.

It looks bad on paper, especially after so long away from the continent’s top club competition, but it could just be a blessing in disguise.

Being Free from the inconvenience of having to play on Thursday nights in the Europa League, might Milan have the edge over Napoli, who look set to progress in that competition.

Greater recovery time between matches could be key to the Rossoneri winning the title.