I
used to believe in luck, but I am not so sure anymore. Take, for example, this
stat: Both times Milan have previously faced Anderlecht in the Champions
League, Milan have gone on to win the title. Which would normally make
Anderlecht our lucky charm, right? But this season, things are simply
different. This season, we’ll be lucky to get past Anderlecht at all. With the way our fortunes have changed this summer, we’ll need a whole lot more than luck
in the Champions League this season.
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| Anderlecht are in the habit of winning, here celebrating their latest league title |
So Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht, or R.S.C. Anderlecht are kind of like the Juventus of the Belgian Pro League. In fact, they were even found guilty of bribing a referee to get to the 1983 UEFA Cup final. But where they differ is that they actually have 31 uncontested league titles, and greater success in Europe. In fact, the UEFA club coefficient rankings for this past season actually rank them at 41st, while Juve rank only 43rd. Therefore, Anderlecht are better than Juve. Which means we’re in trouble.
I
typically don’t fear men who wear purple. It’s nothing personal, but I really
don’t care for the color on anyone, honestly. They say it’s a royal color, and
this stems back to the time when dyes were relatively new, and red and purple
were two of the most rare and expensive dye colors to get, so they were
reserved for royalty. If that were still the case today, this would certainly
be one royal matchup.
At
this point in our season, I fear just about anything and anyone. My daughter’s
school team full of young girls wants to take on Milan? Please, no! It’s
humiliating enough to lose to grown men. But something inside me won’t stop
wanting to fight, won’t stop believing that we can win, if we can just put the
pieces of the puzzle together for 90 minutes. And what better timing to do that
than in the Champions League, where Milan have had such success in the past?
And what better place to do it than at home, in front of our own fans, on the
new pitch, which has yet to be christened with a home victory? Who wants to
kick some Belgian butt? Who’s with me? Anyone? Allegri? No one? Okay, sorry.
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| Remember when we had all of those other players and we won? Good times. |
Allegri
has made himself a focal point for this match. And not in the way the Mourinho
claims to do it. Because Allegri drags the team into the spotlight with him.
Oh, Niang is not a player for now, but a player for the future? Maybe that’s
something you don’t say out loud, Mister, especially considering you’ve given
him all of 2 ½ minutes in a match. But barring some divine intervention, he is
still coaching this squad for this match. And I certainly believe in this
squad. So I know they will do everything in their power to turn these Belgians
into waffles.
Anderlecht manager John van den
Brom is new at the helm this season after having some success in the Dutch
Eridvisie league. Despite his new Belgian side Anderlecht having never won in
Italy, van den Brom is likely relishing his chances after Milan’s poor league
start and overall implosion. He will likely start with a lineup of Proto; Odoi, Wasilewski, Deschacht, Safari; Gillet,
Biglia, Kanu, Yakovenko; Mbokani, and De Sutter.
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| Jovanovic and Kanu celebrate upon hearing of Milan's 2nd league loss... |
Allegri will field 11 players. I’m so tired of
trying to guess who. I mean Abbiati is a pretty sure bet unless Allegri injures
him between now and tomorrow. I’d go with De Sciglio, but Allegri would likely
pick Abate. I’d go with Mexés or Zapata or even my grandmother over Bonera, but
I think we all know who will start there. Does Acerbi get the nod? Or does he
go with the experienced Yepes? Hard to say.
Antonini is another sure bet, but at least he had one good game
recently.
The midfield will possibly be a little easier to
call given Ambrosini’s knock the other day, but then again, if he’s not in a
wheelchair, Allegri will likely line him up. But I would guess he’ll put the
virtually useless Flamini out with De Jong and Nocerino, plus the scoreless
chicken Boateng behind the strikers. El Shaarawy and Pazzini will likely start
up top, crowning his evergreen 4-3-1-2 formation that we all know and love. If
it were me and my job was on the line, I’d personally switch to a 4-3-2-1 with
Urby and Boateng (or maybe El Sharaawy) behind Pazzini. But it’s not me and
it’s not my job, my job is merely to question, complain, and applaud, if that
ever becomes necessary again. Oh, and to bleed red and black, I feel the need
for a transfusion coming on shortly…
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| Allegri's newest game: spot the champions... can you find them? |
If I still believed in luck, I would do every
lucky ritual, buy every lucky charm I could find, and anything else I could
think of to try to invoke the luck of Champions League seasons past. But I
don’t believe in luck this season, and Milan will need so much more than that anyway.
But looking at this one game, it is winnable. Especially if Anderlecht’s entire
starting lineup were to take ill, for example, or if they struggle more than us
on the new pitch or something. A little part of me does believe that we have
what it takes to pull this one off. Does Allegri? I don’t know. I don’t envy
the enormous amount of pressure he’s got on top of an already difficult job at
this point. Let’s just hope he’s solved the puzzle, and picks the right 11
players to do the job. Or that Anderlecht fall prey to a case of the jitters or
something. With a little of that elusive luck and a lot of Milan, maybe we’ll
just pull this one off.
This post
inspired by the music of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”
Champions League Group Stage
Match
Milan vs.
Anderlecht
Tuesday, September 18th • 20:45
CEST (2:45 EDT)
This match is NOT being broadcast in the U.S. that I can find
Check for streams in the comments about 2 hrs. before the match
This match is NOT being broadcast in the U.S. that I can find
Check for streams in the comments about 2 hrs. before the match