AC Milan were overwhelmed by an energetic and organised Sampdoria side on Sunday and the standout in midfield was the diminutive Lucas Torreira, who was not intimidated by his experienced Rossoneri counterparts.
The 21-year-old Uruguayan starlet admirably protected the defenders behind him and was able to contribute to Il Doria’s offensive play in their 2-0 victory against the Milan giants in their Week 6 Serie A encounter.
For all the extravagant spending the Diavolo had made on players during the summer, their coach Vincenzo Montella was made to look incompetent by Sampdoria tactician Marco Giampaolo, with Torreira a vital part in making his coach’s plans succeed.
Due to the manner in which Sampdoria pressed, Milan struggled to consistently pass the ball with any fluidity, and experienced playmaker Lucas Biglia in particular, could not cope with the lack of space. Whenever he made a forward or square pass, especially in the first half, the Blucerchiati would quickly break away.
Although Biglia had his own problems with the Uruguayan, former Atalanta starlet Franck Kessie probably struggled to evade him more than the other Rossoneri players.
With less than five minutes remaining in the first half, Torreira had a chance to open the scoring when the ball fell to him outside of the penalty area after a poor defensive clearance from Milan.
He proceeded to dribble past Kessie, who fell to the ground after failing in the tackle, and the Samp midfielder beat another Diavolo player before just shooting wide with a power right-foot shot.
Perhaps the best moment of the match for Torreira was when he won the ball back in his own penalty area more than 20 minutes into the second half, fairly bumping an advancing Kessie off the ball, dispossessing the Ivorian, and then dribbling past Nikola Kalinic, who was less than a metre away and almost closed him down.
The Sampdoria starlet recovered the ball 11 times and completed 34 passes, statistics which reflect his ball-winning quality, as well as ability to distribute the ball effectively to his teammates. And it was statistics such as these which also catapulted him into the Forza Italian Football team of the week.
Torreira has also earned comparisons with Paris Saint-Germain and Italy midfielder Marco Verratti due to their similar height and build, but their characteristics are quite different. The Italian international possesses better dribbling ability and technique on the ball, whereas Torreira is more accomplished in the defensive aspects of the game.
In his second season with Sampdoria, Marco Giampaolo is further witnessing his football philosophy coming to fruition and his Doriani side are now seventh on the Serie A table with a game in hand and they are yet to suffer a defeat.
One of the reasons for Il Doria’s fantastic start is Torreira, the tenacious midfielder who demonstrated maturity beyond his years against the more illustrious AC Milan.
