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Player reportSerie A 2025/26

Matteo Gabbia

AC Milan
Ball-playing centre-back CB
4.7 progressive passes/90 · 0.3 line-breaking/90
centre-backball-playing centre-backbuild-upline-breaking
2727
minutes
33 apps
1517
passes
92% completed
92%
pass completion
1517 passes
141
progressive passes
4.7/90
158
line-breaking passes
5.2/90
375
defensive actions
12.4/90
37
tackles + interceptions
55% tackle win
167
clearances
5.5/90
Overview

The player

Who he is and how he compares with his peers.

01

What Patterns Define Him?

His repeatable signature. A step only appears if its reliability score (sample size × match coverage) reaches at least Medium confidence — pattern mining, not anecdotes.

RECEIVE
in the first line of build-up — mostly in the middle third (56% of his 1517 passes)
92% completion · 1517× in 32/32 matches
↓
BREAK A LINE
vertical pass past the opponent midfield
4.7 prog/90 · 158× in 31/32 matches
↓
SWITCH PLAY
diagonal to the far side
cross-field balls · 110× in 30/32 matches
↓
PROGRESS
entries into the final third
1.7/90 · 51× in 25/32 matches
Signature: Receive → Break A Line → Switch Play → Progress — the only steps proven repeatable this season (4 of 5 in the full pattern). Not enough evidence yet for the rest of the chain below.
Not a pattern: carry out — 2× (insufficient confidence, hidden — not enough evidence yet) — omitted from the signature rather than presented as one.
17

Where is he influential — vs where is he merely present?

Red fill = raw touch territory. Gold rings = zones where his influence (xT added, progression, line-breaks, key passes) outweighs how often he's actually there — one combined map instead of two separate maps to compare by eye. Red with no ring: present but not dangerous. A ring on faint red: rare touches, outsized impact.

own goal left, attacking →
47
passes / match
12.4
def actions / 90
1–89
pass range (matches)
167
clearances
Pass range = his fewest and most passes in any single match this season (1 at the low end, 89 at the high) — a measure of match-to-match involvement, not pass distance.
In possession

In possession

What he does with the ball: build-up, progression, creation, carrying and finishing.

10

How dangerous are his carries?

Real ball-carries

383 tracked carries (12.6/90, 67 progressive, 2978m total) — the ball moving with his touches, a different signal from dribbles below (beating an opponent 1v1). even a player who rarely dribbles past a man can still carry the ball forward constantly in build-up; this is that.

3%16%15%2%0%2%24%28%5%0%1%2%1%
progressivelateral/short% of his 383 carries originating in each zone · own goal left, attacking →
Every carry, exact path — median 6m, longest 27m
By zone — where the carry started → where it ended
25Outside → Inside
327Inside → Inside
21Outside → Outside
10Inside → Outside
First (109)Second (106)Third (103)Fourth (65)grouped by carry pattern (start + end position), largest group first
startendown goal left, attacking →

Beaten in the tackle

How often an attacker gets past him in a 1v1 defensive duel — the closest signal the data has to "dribbled past" (no attacker-beat-defender field exists directly, so this counts tackles he attempted and lost).

22
tackle duels
12
won
10
beaten · 45%
brighter band = more tackle duels · own goal left, attacking →
INSIDE 64%
OUTSIDE 36%
Tackle-duel location — 14 inside · 8 outside
Right Wing
5 · 23%
Right Half-Space
2 · 9%
Central
9 · 41%
Left Half-Space
3 · 14%
Left Wing
3 · 14%
Vision AI beaten in 10 of 22 tackle duels (45% loss rate) — a real defensive leak worth flagging.
Every tackle duel, exact location
wonlost — dribbled pastown goal left, attacking →

He attempted only 1 dribble of his own all season — dribbling is not part of this role; his ball-carrying is covered above, his defending against the dribble below.

02

How does he build & move the ball?

How does he escape the first line?

11%
vertical passes
126×
8%
switches
92×
30%
carries
350×
51%
short circulation
581×
Answer: he escapes the press primarily through carrying — stepping out with the ball.

How he moves the ball — his 4 busiest progression routes, not where every pass starts and ends separately. Arrow width = how often, colour = xT gained, dashed = switch of play. The full breakdown is in the lane matrix below.

own goal left, attacking →
Lane transition matrix — when he receives in a lane, where does it go?
TO →RWRHSCLHSLWRW10341%4221%2236%371%11%1RHS53838%2049%5135%18714%783%18C63223%14616%9919%12226%16416%101LHS961%110%1030%2916%1543%41LW248%233%817%442%10FROM
Rows normalised: each row sums to 100% of that lane's completed passes. Grey number = passes from that lane.

Primary route: the right half-space in the middle third → the right half-space in the middle third — 5 progressive passes (13% of his progression) at 0.040 xT each. He keeps it in the same lane.

His progression is inward: 38% of progressive passes move the ball toward the middle versus 13% going wider — he cuts in rather than holding width.

18% of his passes are cross-field switches — he changes the point of attack often.

Quality behind the volume: 9 line-breaking passes and 51 final-third entries, 11.5 total xT added.

Origin and destination are measured on the same event row — no receiver inference. Receiver identity is not recoverable from this data source.
All passes — origin zone share
Filter: from to
5%13%12%5%1%0%2%21%26%10%0%0%1%2%2%1%0%
completedincomplete1517 passes · any zone → any zone · own goal left, attacking →
1517
passes
92%
completed
124
lost
Vision AIIn line with his 92% season completion rate.
03

How does he progress play?

How much he drives the ball forward. Progressive = completed pass advancing ≥15 toward goal.

141
progressive · 4.7/90
51
final-third entries · 1.7/90
0
box entries · 0.00/90
11
progression index /90
Progression index: one composite number — progressive passes + progressive carries + 2% of total distance progressed + 8× positive xT added, all per 90. Weights VOLUME and THREAT together rather than counting progressive actions alone.
12

How does he create chances?

1 key passes (0.03/90), 0 of them assists — where his chance creation specifically comes from, 18 zones (6×3), showing his share of key passes originating there.

Chance creation — key pass origin zone share
Filter:
100%
chance creation (1)assist (0)% of the selected group's key passes originating in each zone
06

Where does he become vulnerable?

125 times he gave the ball away. For a defender the danger is where — a loss in his own third can turn into a chance against; higher up it costs little.

8
attacking third (cheap)
66
middle third
51
own third (dangerous)
Vision AI 6% of losses are in the attacking third — a notable share happen deeper, which invites transitions.
Mistake danger (proxy): 2.05 danger-index/90 · 0.496 avg/turnover. Weights each loss by threat conceded at that location. True xT-conceded needs the opponent possession model; positional proxy.
05

What is his passing profile?

1517
passes attempted
46%
mostly forward
66%
mostly medium
Direction
Forward
703 · 46%
Sideways
621 · 41%
Backward
193 · 13%
Length (completed)
Short (<15m)
338 · 24%
Medium
915 · 66%
Long (>30m)
140 · 10%
07

Preferred Progression Routes — xT-weighted

His progressive passes as zone→zone routes, weighted by expected threat (xT) added — arrow width and the number are the total xT generated on each route, not just how often he plays it. This is where he actually moves the needle.

1.160.940.750.570.490.45
own goal left, attacking →
Highest-value routes (xT)
1.16
Right Half-Space Mid third → Right Wing Mid third
25 passes
0.94
Right Half-Space Mid third → Right Wing Att third
9 passes
0.75
Central Def third → Right Wing Mid third
16 passes
0.57
Central Mid third → Right Wing Mid third
12 passes
0.49
Central Mid third → Right Wing Att third
7 passes
0.45
Right Half-Space Def third → Right Wing Mid third
11 passes
08

Where Does He Receive?

The zones where Matteo Gabbia gets on the ball — his top three ball-collection areas highlighted (gold = primary). Reception is proxied by where his on-ball actions begin (no explicit receiver is recorded).

123
1 = primary, 2 = secondary, 3 = third · own goal left, attacking →
His collection zones
27%
Primary
Central, Middle third
20%
Secondary
Right Half-Space, Middle third
18%
Third
Right Half-Space, Defensive third
These are the zones where he collected the ball most.
09

Where Does He Operate? — Every Zone

Every on-ball touch (pass, dribble, shot) binned into a 6×3 grid — raw counts of where Matteo Gabbia actually gets on the ball. Hover any zone for its breakdown by action type, its share of all touches, and the exact coordinate range it covers.

Filter:
83031202233183981496216919117878123
own goal left, attacking → · brighter + higher number = more touches

Passes only — completed vs incomplete, by zone

Same zone grid, restricted to passes so completed/incomplete and match filters actually mean something — a shot or a dribble has no "completed" in the pass sense.

5%13%12%5%1%0%2%21%26%10%0%0%1%2%2%1%0%
own goal left, attacking →
11

Every Pass This Season — completed vs incomplete

Every pass this season, plotted individually — green = completed, grey (dashed) = incomplete, gold = key pass. Filter by outcome or isolate one match below.

1Key pass
2Cutback
141Progressive
158Long ball
110Switch
By zone — where the pass started → where it landed
74Outside → Inside
755Inside → Inside
53Outside → Outside
511Inside → Outside
By direction
703Forward
193Backward
621Sideways
own goal left, attacking →
04

Tactical patterns — how his football actually looks

Three clustered sequence diagrams from his own event data — his three busiest routes: the way he progresses, the pattern behind his chances, and where a turnover turns dangerous.

own goal left, attacking →
How does he progress the ball forward?
His most common route for progressing play: he switches it out from the right hs to the right wing in the middle third — 25 passes worth 1.16 xT.
Where do his chances come from?
Of 1 key passes, his busiest route is a delivery where he plays straight through the central in the final third — 1 times. The receiver isn't identifiable in this data, only where the pass started and ended.
Where does he lose the ball most?
This is a RATE, not a raw count — the share of his touches in each zone that end in a turnover, so a zone he simply plays in more often doesn't automatically look riskier. His weakest zone is the right half-space in the final third: 27% of his 11 touches there are lost (3 times).
21%13/63 lost7%20/270 lost5%13/251 lost8%3/36 lost13%2/15 lost16%9/58 lost8%26/306 lost5%22/413 lost10%7/69 lost9%1/11 lost—5 touches · too few27%3/11 lost—6 touches · too few—2 touches · too few—1 touch · too fewRWRHSCLHSLWDEFMIDATT
Out of possession

Out of possession

Where and how he defends and presses.

13

How & where does he defend?

375 defensive actions across the season (12.4/90). Where he wins the ball, and how — the core question for a defender. Aerial duels are not recorded for this competition, so aerial dominance is not measured here.

click a card to isolate that action type · own goal left, attacking →
22
tackles · 55% won
15
interceptions · 0.5/90
68
recoveries · 2.2/90
167
clearances · 5.5/90
1
blocks
28
avg action height
21
won high (att 3rd)
106
middle third
248
own third
Vision AI A deep-defending defender. He wins the ball mainly by clearing and blocking — a reactive, protect-the-box profile. 105 proactive ball-wins (3.5/90), tackle success 55%. He defends deep, protecting his box — a last-line stopper.
14

Can he play under pressure?

Split by how hard the opponent pressed (opponent PPDA — lower = more intense press). Can Matteo Gabbia still play out when the opponent presses high? His build-up quality split by press intensity — the key question for a ball-playing defender. Tiers of ~11-11 matches — directional evidence, not proof.

press tier
completion
prog /90
line-breaks /90
xT /90
High press (PPDA 5.7, 11m)
89%
1.8
3.2
0.31
Mid press (PPDA 8.9, 11m)
93%
5.1
6.1
0.83
Low press (PPDA 11.4, 11m)
92%
6.9
6.2
0.86
Team

Team context

How much of the team runs through him, and what changes without him.

15

Impact on the Team

AC Milan's output per match with Matteo Gabbia (3 matches) versus without him (5 matches). Insufficient evidence — the without-sample is only 5 matches; treat every Δ below as noise until more games exist. What his own defending should move — goals conceded and results — leads; attacking output (largely out of a defender's hands) is shown after, for context. A proper on-off model needs many more minutes.

WITH (3)
WITHOUT (5)
Δ
goals against /match
0.67
1.00
-0.33
points /match
2.33
2.20
+0.13
goals for /match
1.67
2.20
-0.53
xG for /match
1.88
1.69
+0.19
16

His Share of the Team

Of everything AC Milan produced this season, the categories where the biggest share ran through Matteo Gabbia specifically — his share of the team total, not a per-90 rate.

category
share
him / team
clearances
11%
167 / 1469
interceptions
3%
15 / 483
threat added by passing (xT)
3%
20.4 / 720.6
Recruitment

Style and verdict

Style profile, closest comparables, and the summary.

18

Playing-Style Profile

Not raw event counts — football style scores: weighted models scored 0–100 against the 515 centre-backs in the pool (min 450 min). This is what separates players who post similar numbers but play differently. Proxy dimensions are inferred from on-ball data; true off-ball running / under-pressure context is not measured.

Ball-playing centre-back54%Stopper centre-back13%
Why Ball-playing centre-back 54%: a weighted blend of build-up 76 (weight 30%) + retention 68 (weight 30%) + progression 20 (weight 25%) + press resistance 33 (weight 15%). The score reflects how distinctively his profile SHAPE matches this archetype vs his peers.
Elite
—
Strong
build-up
Average
retention, passing directness, box threat, carrying, transition
Weak
crossing, press resistance, creativity, progression, receiving zones, line-breaking, defensive aggression, final-third threat, through-balls, dribbling, ball-winning, territory (wide vs central)
Unknown
aerial ability, marking, off-ball running — not in event data
Build-up
76
Retention
68
Passing directness
66
Box threat
57
Carrying
43
Transition ~proxy
41
Crossing
37
Press resistance ~proxy
33
Creativity
26
Progression
20
Receiving zones
17
Line-breaking
15
Defensive aggression
13
Final-third threat
11
Through-balls ~proxy
11
Dribbling
8
Ball-winning
7
Territory (wide vs central)
6
19

Similar Players — in style space

Closest comparables measured on the style scores above, within the same position family — so it separates how players are alike, not just how much they touch the ball. Each line explains the shared strength and the divergent mechanism. A light physical-profile term (height / weight; this player: 185 cm / 78 kg) is included at a quarter of one style axis's weight — enough to break ties between stylistic twins, not to override style. Scope: pooled across the Serie A, Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1 and Premier League, percentiled within each player's own league before comparing — a match from another league is marked with its league name.

Style, not quality: a high match here means two players tend to produce the ball in similar ways — it is not a ranking, a scouting recommendation, or a claim that they are equally good.

Moritz Jenz Wolfsburg · Bundesliga 25/26 · 190 cm / 86 kg
90%
Driven by: dribbling (12%), ball-winning (12%), territory (wide vs central) (9%). Different mechanism — Gabbia more via box threat.
Federico Baschirotto Cremonese 25/26 · 184 cm / 90 kg
89%
Driven by: defensive aggression (16%), ball-winning (16%), final-third threat (11%). Different mechanism — Gabbia more via retention; Baschirotto more via through-balls.
Alexsandro Lille · Ligue 1 · 191 cm / 82 kg
86%
Driven by: dribbling (16%), build-up (12%), through-balls (8%). Different mechanism — Gabbia more via passing directness; Alexsandro more via ball-winning, defensive aggression.
Andrew Omobamidele Strasbourg · Ligue 1 · 188 cm / 78 kg
84%
Driven by: dribbling (12%), build-up (12%), defensive aggression (11%). Different mechanism — Gabbia more via box threat; Omobamidele more via transition, carrying.
Fernando Calero Malaga · La Liga · 183 cm / 71 kg
83%
Driven by: territory (wide vs central) (12%), dribbling (11%), final-third threat (10%). Different mechanism — Calero more via ball-winning, defensive aggression.
Rav van den Berg Koln · Bundesliga · 190 cm / 75 kg
82%
Driven by: dribbling (13%), ball-winning (13%), final-third threat (11%). Different mechanism — Gabbia more via box threat, crossing; Berg more via line-breaking, defensive aggression.
20

Summary

Matteo Gabbia is a ball-playing centre-back: 92% pass completion, 158 line-breaking passes and 4.7 progressive passes /90. A build-and-progress centre-back whose value is in beating the first line with the pass, not in raw defensive volume. [Aerial duels, marking, line-height and 1v1 recovery need aerial-event + tracking data, absent here.]

Based on 33 matches (2727 minutes) this season — a reliable read. He profiles as a ball-playing centre-back — best used in a system built around that identity. His biggest room for growth is progression — even a modest improvement there would meaningfully lift his overall ball-playing centre-back profile.
✨ This report is interactive

Click any stat card to filter its map, hover a dot for the exact match, and use the dropdowns to slice passes zone-to-zone. Nothing here is static.

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