Former AC Milan coach Alberto Zaccheroni has highlighted the influence director Paolo Maldini has had on the Serie A leaders.

Maldini's work in the transfer market has gone a long way to having the team now in place to win the Scudetto.

Zaccheroni said: "This Milan can do it because it combines strength, intensity and quality. It does not use the whole pitch, it mainly exploits the central part. vertically: and there it is capable of winning duels and creating numerical superiority.

"A system that rewards them: Theo, Leao, but also Messias and Calabria, as well as Florenzi, are very centralised. It literally dominates the central funnel, the key is that.

"(Stefano) Pioli has been very good, he has recorded in recent weeks and also affects the single match with the substitutions. But the creator of this rebirth is Paolo Maldini: to create the ideal environment, to insist on the Rossoneri sense of belonging, Paolo is a true master."