AC Milan Vs Cagliari [1–2] – Serie A 2025/2026: Massimiliano Allegri Final Day Collapse Costs Champions League Football – Tactical Analysis

AC Milan faced Cagliari at the San Siro in the final Gameweek of the 2025/2026 Serie A season, with Milan needing a positive result in order to earn a UEFA Champions League spot in 2026/2027.

In the end, Milan failed to remain in the top four after losing 1-2 to Cagliari, thereby missing their chance to return to Europe's elite next term.

The loss dropped Massimiliano Allegri's Milan to fifth, which grants them UEFA Europa League football next season, where they'll compete alongside Juventus, who also failed to reach the Champions League.

This ends a very disappointing season for Milan fans, as I Rossoneri were battling for the title in the winter and were positioned in the top four throughout the season, but failed to secure their top-four spot when it mattered most.

Another revolution will therefore be seen at Milan this summer, with a lot of changes in terms of the coaching staff, sporting director, and potentially players too.

On the other hand, Fabio Pisacane's Cagliari finished 14th but did so in style, ending the season with a remarkable away win in Milan.

In this tactical analysis, we explore the reasons for Milan’s attacking failure, their tactical issues, and the defensive errors that led to Cagliari scoring twice and creating other chances.

AC Milan Vs Cagliari Lineups & Formations

AC Milan Lineup Vs Cagliari

Allegri opted for the usual 3-5-2 formation, with Mike Maignan as goalkeeper, Fikayo Tomori, Matteo Gabbia, and Strahinja Pavlović as centre-backs, with Alexis Saelemaekers and Davide Bartesaghi as wing-backs.

The midfield was made up of Ardon Jashari as a defensive midfielder, with Adrien Rabiot and Youssouf Fofana as central midfielders.

Upfront, the attacking duo was composed of Christopher Nkunku and Santiago Giménez.

Cagliari Lineup Vs AC Milan

On the other side, Pisacane used a 3-5-2 formation as well, with Elia Caprile as a goalkeeper, and a back-three made up of Zé Pedro, Yerry Mina, and Juan Rodríguez.

The midfield consisted of Michel Adopo, Gianluca Gaetano, and Alessandro Deiola as central midfielders, with Gabriele Zappa and Adam Obert as wing-backs.

In attack, Pisacane used both Gennaro Borrelli and Sebastiano Esposito as the attacking duo.

Cagliari Poor Defending Inside The Box

Milan scored the first goal of the match in the opening minute, mainly by exploiting the Cagliari defenders' poor reactions to a cross.

Tomori launched a long pass towards the direction of Giménez’s run.

Cagliari’s defenders looked surprised and disorganised, as Obert did not follow Saelemaekers into the box and gave up as soon as Saelemaekers touched the ball, relying on Mina to do the job.

At the same time, Mina was marking Giménez, and when he noticed that Saelemaekers was going to receive the ball with no tight marking from Obert, he decided to retreat to attempt to stop Saelemaekers.

His attempt was unsuccessful mainly because Saelemaekers played it simple yet very efficiently, while Mina was not quick enough to prevent the Belgian from shooting.

The action highlights Cagliari’s lack of defensive organisation during such a dangerous action.

AC Milan Defensive Approach

Following Milan’s goal, the home side decided to regroup and retreat into their own half, allowing Cagliari to gain more confidence in their ability to get back in the game progressively.

Cagliari, therefore, had the possibility of keeping possession and trying to find solutions mainly by advancing through the wings and trying to find passing solutions towards the box or near it.

Facing a Milan side almost entirely defending in their own half made things easier for Cagliari, as it allowed them to shoot on goal more often and reach the final third more easily.

This can only make us wonder about Milan’s approach to the match after taking the lead.

For a team that needs the win more than the opponent, retreating in that complete way was certainly not the best plan to adopt after scoring the first goal.

Given that there was a lot of time left in the match, Milan could have pushed for a second goal, and it would have been wise to retreat and protect a 2-0 lead.

But with a one-goal advantage and a lot of time left, it was too risky to play with a very low defensive block.

Added to that, Milan’s players looked like they had already guaranteed the win and committed several passing errors that prevented them from keeping possession inside Cagliari’s half for a considerable time.

This allowed Cagliari to advance towards Milan’s half and do it quickly as if it was Cagliari who were in need of the win.

Milan’s very passive and overly cautious approach eventually allowed Cagliari to become dangerous in attack, finding space to receive the ball in key areas and shoot on goal.

One of Cagliari's key chances saw Gaetano attempt a near-perfect curved shot that could have been scored if Maignan had been quick enough to save it.

The action was successful for Cagliari mainly thanks to Tomori’s poorly headed clearance, which allowed Esposito to lean towards the left wing, notice Gaetano’s movement between the lines, and provide him a key pass.

In this action, both Tomori and Jashari are responsible for awarding Gaetano too much time and space to shoot, despite noticing Gaetano’s movement before the execution of Esposito’s pass.

Such passive defending and marking errors were crucial in helping Cagliari grow into the game and get closer to scoring.