Last season, AC Milan suffered a huge setback after their Algerian midfielder Ismael Bennacer was injured in the UEFA Champions League 2022-23 semi-final match against rivals Inter Milan. The midfielder has not played a professional match since then. AC Milan had to recruit players in the midfield to fill in the gap. However, reports are emerging that the 25-year-old midfielder has returned to training.
Ismael Bennacer joined AC Milan in 2019 from Empoli. He won the Serie A with the club in the 2021-22 season and carries experience of around 150 Serie A games. As the 25-year-old midfielder is nearing a return to regular football, here is a look at what Bennacer can add to the AC Milan squad.
Shielding the defence
Ismael Bennacer plays the holding role in the midfield for Milan. He sits in front of the defence and contests his duels. In the 2022–23 season, Bennacer averaged 7.87 defensive duels, 2.4 aerial duels, and 3.66 loose ball duels per 90 minutes. He won 60% of his defensive duels and around 40% of the other duels. The midfielder managed to make more than four interceptions per 90 minutes and didn’t give away a lot of fouls in dangerous scoring areas.
Creative side
Ismael Bennacer is not a player who only knows how to play in the holding role. The midfielder has shown his versatility and played further up on the field. He knows how to rotate the ball and move it to different areas on the field.
In the 2022–23 season, he averaged 52.44 passes per 90 minutes and had a high accuracy rate of 89.3%. These included eight passes to the final third and 2.3 passes to the opposition penalty box. The above viz shows that some of the passes that landed in the opposition penalty box were long passes attempted by the Algerian international.
Ismael Bennacer added two assists to his name in the previous season. He is a set-piece taker and knows how to find a teammate inside the penalty box. Last season, he provided 37 shot assists and most of these passes landed on the edge of the six-yard box.
The 25-year-old midfielder also has an eye for the goal. His position on the field doesn’t; allow him to get into dangerous scoring positions. Instead, Bennacer likes to take shots from a long range and found the back of the net thrice in 2022-23. He only attempted three shots from inside the box and found the back of the net.
Ismael Bennacer’s return will boost AC Milan. They lead the Serie A 2023-24 table with seven wins in the first eight games. Pioli’s men will look to carry the same momentum and try to secure a second Scudetto in three years.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
