Modric says Milan ‘deserved’ Bologna defeat as first loss exposes cracks
Luka Modric admitted AC Milan were beaten fairly by Bologna, pointing to a second-half collapse built on lost duels and a costly set piece as the Rossoneri's unbeaten Serie A run ended.
Luka Modric says Milan have no complaints about losing 4-2 to Bologna, a result that ended the Rossoneri's unbeaten start to the Serie A season.
Milan led at half-time before collapsing after the break on Wednesday, their first league defeat of the campaign. Modric told Sky Sport Italia, via Milannews, that the result caught the squad off guard given how the first 45 minutes had gone, as reported by Football Italia.
"It was a bad defeat; we didn't expect it, especially after the first half," Modric said. He added that Milan had performed well in the league up to that point, calling the loss of so many individual contests after the interval the decisive factor.
Where the game turned
Modric singled out duels as the central problem of the second half, telling Sky Sport Italia that Milan "lost so many duels" once Bologna found their rhythm. In a match context, a duel is any isolated contest for the ball, in the air or on the ground, between two opposing players, and a side that loses a high volume of them in a short spell typically cedes both territory and momentum, because possession and second balls start falling the other way without the team having conceded a clear structural error.
That pattern, by Modric's own account, coincided with a set-piece goal that he described as unfortunate. Dead-ball situations are scripted phases where marking assignments and blocking runs are rehearsed in training, so a breakdown there usually reflects a specific individual or zonal mistake rather than a tactical flaw across open play. Modric suggested the concession had a psychological effect beyond the scoreline, saying that from that moment "we threw ourselves down," an admission that Milan's response to going behind compounded the problem rather than limiting it.
That sequence, a lost set piece followed by a run of lost duels and a collective drop in intensity, is consistent with a team whose defensive structure held for an entire half and then unravelled once one setback changed the emotional tenor of the game. Modric was blunt about where that leaves the group. "We deserved to lose," he said, rejecting any suggestion that Bologna's win was fortunate or that Milan were unlucky.
A squad still adapting, with little time to recover
Modric did not use Milan's injury list as an excuse, telling Sky Sport Italia that "there have been injuries, but it's a positive that the next game is right away." He came off the bench at half-time to replace Fikayo Tomori, who was injured during the first half, a substitution that illustrates how squad depth and in-game management are being tested at the same time as Ruben Amorim tries to install a new way of playing.
Changing a head coach's system mid-season is rarely instant. Players have to relearn pressing triggers, build-up patterns and positional responsibilities, and that adjustment period often produces inconsistency even when results look strong on paper. Modric framed Milan's situation in exactly those terms, saying the coach "has arrived with new ideas, with a new style of play, and we are trying to understand his ideas and what he asks of us."
He was careful not to let one bad night undercut that process. "I think we are going the right way," Modric said, pointing to Milan's results before Wednesday as evidence the transition has largely worked, while acknowledging that "we still need to improve" as the campaign continues.
The timing of the next fixture sharpens the stakes. Milan travel into a city derby against Inter on Saturday with almost no time to address what went wrong, a scheduling quirk that Modric chose to present as an opportunity rather than a burden, saying the group must "stay optimistic and hope to react on Saturday."
Bologna's win was built on finishing what Milan allowed to open up, with Samuel Mbangula among the scorers as Milan's defensive structure gave way after half-time. For Milan, the table still reads well: fifth place with 18 points from nine matches, five wins, three draws and the one defeat. Modric, who turns 42 during the campaign and is contracted until the end of the season, has registered two assists in nine Serie A appearances. The derby will show quickly whether Wednesday's collapse was an isolated lapse in concentration or a symptom of a system still being learned under pressure.