Mi Ti: Under Allegri’s guidance, Pavlovich became Milan’s steel wall

According to the "Gazzetta dello Sport" report, under the guidance of Allegri, Pavlovic became Milan's steel wall.

From a giant of clay to a wall of steel, it only took a few months. Under the guidance of defensive master Allegri, Pavlovic transformed. When he first arrived in Milan, he was sometimes clumsy, wooden and inconsistent, but now the Serbian player has become not only a difficult opponent for the opponent's forwards, but also an offensive threat to the team, as Roma has experienced recently. All this while he was always in the starting line-up, whether in the league or the Coppa Italia.

Pavlovich’s growth first came from Allegri’s trust in him. In the 2024/25 season, the former Salzburg player could not find a stable playing opportunity in Milan at the beginning. That season, under Fonseca, he never started more than four consecutive Serie A games, and it was not until the final stages under Conceição that he secured his place in the starting lineup, as Milan steadily used a three-back formation.

In hindsight, this was actually a warm-up for the season. Despite making formation adjustments in the summer, Allegri has always stuck to a 3-5-2 formation in official games. This formation highlights Pavlovich's characteristics: cooperating with Gabia in the center, with Estupinian or Bartsaki on the left wing, Pavlovich is able to concentrate on physical confrontation with the opponent, and gets more protection, while also being able to use his offensive talents.

Milan thus found a central defender who was reliable in defense and threatening in attack. Allegri almost never removed him unless forced to make a substitution. In the league, Pavlovich was substituted in only two games: one at half-time against Bologna due to injury, and the other against Udinese, with Milan already leading 3-0. Including the Italian Cup, Pavlovich played a total of 1,092 minutes, second only to Salle Marcos (1,095 minutes), and is the player with the second most playing time in the team. If you only count Serie A, Pavlovic and Salle Marcos, together with Gabbia, Modric and Fofana, form Allegri's most stable starting five.

In the five matches against Inter Milan last year, Pavlovich only started two games: one was a 1-1 draw in the league, and the other was Milan's 3-0 victory in the second leg of the Italian Cup semi-finals. In the remaining three games, he only played 1 minute in Milan 1-2 Inter Milan, and sat on the bench twice in the Super Cup match against Saudi Arabia and the first leg of the Italian Cup. Pavlovich's first season in Milan was full of adaptation period, with some ups and downs.

Now, Pavlovic is more comfortable at San Siro and has scored 2 goals this season. Only Leo has scored more goals at home (3 goals). The left-footed central defender still failed to score in the Derby, and perhaps November 23 will be his breakthrough, although his and Allegri's primary goal is still to ensure that Milan goalkeeper Maignan does not miss the goal. At the same time, Pavlovich also ushered in a golden moment in his life. As he publicly announced during the celebrations after the victory over Roma, he will celebrate his first moments as a father in April. "This is wonderful news for me and my family, and hopefully this will always be wonderful." For Pavlovich, this was the best "goal" in his career.