Ranieri: ‘Vibrant match both Milan and Roma tried to win’ | OneFootball

Claudio Ranieri was content with a ‘vibrant match where both teams played to win’ and entertained supporters after Roma held Milan to a 1-1 draw at San Siro.

The Giallorossi end 2024 still without an away victory, but at least they fought back from the Tijjani Reijnders opener to equalise through a Paulo Dybala volley on the Artem Dovbyk back-heel flick.

While Mile Svilar made some big saves, so did Mike Maignan at the other end, so a stalemate can be considered a relatively fair result.

“Everything that Milan did to us in the first half is what we did in the second. It was a vibrant match where both teams played to win, but as well as a fair result, the draw also kept both sets of fans entertained,” Ranieri told DAZN.

Ranieri explains Roma adjustments

MILAN, ITALY – DECEMBER 29: Paulo Dybala of AS Roma gestures during the Serie A match between AC Milan and AS Roma at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on December 29, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Roma made changes at half-time, introducing Lorenzo Pellegrini and Zeki Celik for Mats Hummels and Manu Koné.

“I changed because I was afraid of a second yellow card and didn’t want that risk. We did also have three in defence, with Celik and Angelino going forward in possession to create width,” explained Ranieri.

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Dybala went from struggling with repeated muscular injuries to regularly playing 90 minutes for Roma, so what has changed?

“Paulo is training consistently, which he evidently could not do before, and when he is in good shape then he is a pleasure for everyone to watch on the field.”

The first match of 2025 for Roma is a very special one, the Derby della Capitale against high-flying Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico.

“Lazio are having a wonderful season, we congratulate the players, coach Marco Baroni and everyone. The derby is always separate from every other situation, the derby is the derby.”