After 210 scoreless minutes, it all came down to one penalty. As 40,000 Lazio fans at the Stadio Olimpico jeered him relentlessly, the tall AC Milan defender waited to take his sudden death effort with the score deadlocked at 4-4. The referee blew his whistle and up stepped Alessia Romagnoli, despatching his spot kick with aplomb, a low, left-footed shot that sent goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha the wrong way.
The Rossoneri man allowed himself the slightest moment of celebration, then composed himself, aware that while he had earned his current side a place in the Coppa Italia final he had eliminated his boyhood club from the competition. Helping Milan keep a clean sheet in both legs and extra time before netting the winning strike, the tie was a perfect encapsulation of Romagnoli’s importance to the team and showed just how much he has improved over the past three years.
One of the last big-money captures of the Silvio Berlusconi era, he had already made quite the journey before Milan handed over €25 million to sign him from AS Roma. Born just south of the capital, he had grown up in the club’s youth sector and was given his first team debut as long ago as December 2012. Just 17 years old at the time, then-boss Zdeněk Zeman gave him his first Serie A experience – interestingly making his league debut against Milan – before he earned more regular playing time in the following season under Rudi Garcia.
With the Giallorossi looking to challenge Juventus for the title however, the French coach had too many alternatives ahead of the youngster and the decision was made to send him on loan to Sampdoria for the 2014/15 campaign. It was there that he crossed paths with Siniša Mihajlović, and after seeing Romagnoli up close, the Serbian insisted he was brought to Milan when the Coach joined the club the following summer.
It was then that Romagnoli seized the opportunity to hint at his true colours, trolling Roma fans by posing in a Lazio shirt. The image went viral on social media and, as he prepared for Wednesday evening’s clash, the man himself admitted the truth. “It’s always nice to face them because I’m a Lazio fan, and my faith has remained that way,” Romagnoli said at a pre-match press conference. “It’ll be a good feeling as we’ll be playing in the stadium where I went to see the Scudetto-winning team with my dad, but we have to win.”
Thanks to his contribution Milan did just that, and his impressive performances continue to bring comparisons with a man who made the same journey from Rome to San Siro. Alessandro Nesta was captain of that Lazio team who won the title back in 1999/2000, joining Milan two years later and Romagnoli has certainly not shirked the parallels.
In fact, to his immense credit he has actively helped encourage them, taking the no.13 shirt worn by a defender he has identified as his role model. “Thiago Silva is the best in the world at the moment, but for me the greatest of all-time is Alessandro Nesta,” Romagnoli told Sky Italia during his time with Samp, while Mihajlović went so far as to say “Alessio reminds me of Nesta, but he is perhaps more technically able.”
The Coach wasn’t making an idle claim either, having been part of that same Lazio side who won the league-and-cup double under Sven-Göran Eriksson and the younger man has done his best to live up to those claims. Given his age and the fact he has yet to accomplish anything tangible, comparing him to a World Cup and Champions League winner who is arguably one of the most intelligent defenders of all time is a stretch, but Romagnoli has unquestionably begun to reach his own vast potential.
Improving each and every year, the vividly contrasting styles of his coaches have helped hone different aspects of his play. With Mihajlović in charge he learned to make quick, robust challenges, averaging career-highs in both tackles (1.3) and interceptions (2.5) per game during the 2015/16 campaign, but was also guilty of being overzealous.
Registering 1.5 fouls per 90 minutes, the arrival of Vincenzo Montella – a coach who has long championed a possession-based approach and intelligent use of the ball – saw that figure drop to just 0.7 fouls per 90 minutes. His figures for tackles and interceptions fell to 1.1 and 1.5 per game respectively, but Romagnoli’s ability to start attacking moves and link the defence to midfield came to the fore.
But, having averaged 44.5 passes per game and connected with 86.4% of his attempts under Mihajlović, the new boss’ demands for a more Spanish style of play saw those numbers rise as he made 64.8 passes per game in 2016/17, connecting with 89.2% of them. Romagnoli’s distribution has continued to shine this term, making fewer passes (52.8) following the arrival of the equally adept Leonardo Bonucci, but he has found his intended target with a career-high 90.4% completion rate.
That partnership with Bonucci could well give him a head start in being the man to replace Giorgio Chiellini for Italy, but in truth Romagnoli deserves that spot on merit. It is all well and good to look at his improving statistics, but watching him in action regularly is enough to see that the 23-year-old is first and foremost an excellent defender.
Rarely caught out of position, he is a diligent man marker, has good instincts and, as that Coppa Italia penalty underlined, is thriving under the pressure and scrutiny that comes with playing for a club of Milan’s stature. His rivals for an Azzurri berth are Juventus reserve Daniele Rugani and Mattia Caldara, who is gaining invaluable experience during Atalanta’s Europa League run but has yet to make the leap to a bigger side.
Meanwhile, the man in the box seat is thriving at San Siro and looking forward to Sunday’s clash with Inter, particularly having scored his first goal for the Rossoneri in April’s edition of the passionate derby. Milan have won six consecutive games, keeping a clean sheet in each outing and nobody deserves more credit for that than Alessio Romagnoli.
