After a painfully long International Break, our boys will
travel to Chievo on Saturday, the day before Easter. Whether or not you
celebrate Easter, it is traditionally riddled with the celebration of Spring
and new life, which is very appropriate for our squad this year. Especially
with our current run of form. But with nine squad members having traveled with
their International teams this past week, will our resurgence continue? Or will
the Flying Donkeys give us an Easter surprise?
 |
| "I give you six months of my career and all I get is this chocolate egg? Really?" |
Chievo currently sit in fifteenth place, bottom of a six-way
tie that actually starts in 10th place, but their position determined by goal
differential. So they have a lot to gain if they win and some of those other
teams draw or lose on Saturday. After a draw to bottom of the table Palermo
mid-February, they lost to Sampdoria and Fiorentina before winning 2-0 over
second place Napoli and then another 2-0 win against bottom dwellers Pescara.
So we are in the way of the Flying Donkeys clawing their way back up the table, and I’m sure
they’d love nothing more to use us as a stepping stone to get there.
Acerbi will also likely want to get some revenge on the club
that loved him and left him. I anticipate that if he can’t stop our Triple
Threat™, he will politely ask them to stop being so awesome. Speaking of
awesome, both Thereau and Paloschi have seven goals each, so if Acerbi and friends
can’t stop our onslaught, they will be looking to equalize at the other end. And
Paloschi has already announced he will celebrate if he does, too. Corini could
line up a starting eleven similar to that of their Pescara match: Puggioni;
Andreolli, Cesar, Frey, Drame; Guana, Cofie, Rigoni, Hetemaj; Paloschi,
Thereau.
 |
| Paloschi turning out to be more of a rotten egg |
Meanwhile, Allegri will have a difficult time determining
which starters are the least tired from International duty. Yepes and Zapata
will have travelled all the way back from South America, although neither
played on Tuesday. Muntari will have come back from Ghana following Sunday’s
match where he played just under 60 minutes.
Balotelli, El Shaarawy, Montolivo, De Sciglio, and Abate, will be coming
back from Malta, all having played 70+ minutes on Tuesday following their trip
to Geneva last week which saw their plane struck by lightning. And of course, Salamon coming back from having made his debut in Poland with his national team, having played 87 minutes on Tuesday.
On the flip side, Pazzini is hoping to be fit by Saturday,
which gives Allegri an option if Balotelli is tired. And Niang, of course, who
is fully rested. Boateng should also be available to play whichever position
Allegri bestows upon him this week, unless he is too worn out from partying
with Sepp Blatter last week. Pretty much everyone else should be rested and
available, meaning look for a Bonera-Antonini-facepalm in the back and Robinho
to take a lot of shots up front. Unless, of course, some of these players
celebrate Easter with a resurrection of form.
 |
| Antonini and Bonera working as hard as they do on the pitch |
Hopefully, Allegri will weigh out the benefits of an
important three points going into our tough schedule of Fiorentina-Juventus-Napoli
in the coming weeks and start some players that may not be as rested as he likes. He can
always look to the bench in the 91st if that’s not working. I am hoping that
when I open up my chocolate egg, the surprise is a convincing win, three
points, and a game worth watching. Sorry, Acerbi. You do seem like a really
nice guy. But you are also a Milanista, so for you, it’s a win-win. Do the
sporting thing and help me with my Easter surprise, okay? Thanks in advance.
This match inspired by the music of
The The
Chievo vs. Milan
Saturday, March 30 • 18:30 CET (1:30pm EDT)
This match is being shown LIVE on RAI in the U.S.
(look for stream links in the comments before the match)