It’s a new calendar year, yet not quite halfway through a
horrible season for AC Milan. With events, performances, results, and a league
standing that many are drinking to forget, the obscure (if not extinct) optimists
are anxiously hoping for a change in fortunes with the advent of 2014. But with
13th place Milan welcoming 15th place Atalanta to the San Siro on the Epiphany,
will La Befana (the witch who brings Italian children gifts on January 6th) bring Milan good luck?
Or will our misfortunes continue into the new year?
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| Will La Befana favor the Goddess or the Devils? |
Atalanta are also known as “La Dea,” or “The Goddess,”
and have been playing about as poorly as Milan, but with a squad that costs a
fraction of Milan’s and much lower expectations. They are coming off of a 4-1
drubbing by Juventus at home, and so will be motivated to make a better
showing, despite the fact that they have not won any of their past five away
matches.
During the slaying of The
Goddess at the hands of Juventus, the under fire Colantuano lined up
Consigli; Stendardo, Migliaccio, Del Grosso, Raimondi; Bonaventura, Carmona,
Cigarini; Brivio, Moralez, and Denis. He is missing four defenders, Lucchini,
Scaloni, Bellini, and the former Milan stalwart Yepes. Denis is their high
scorer so far with 6 goals, and there are four Atalanta players behind him,
each with two goals. But have they been good enough for La Befana to bring them a win?
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| At least my beautiful Yepes didn't go to the other Nerazzurri team |
Milan are likely to be still shell-shocked from their last
match, ironically also a Nerazzurri
encounter and a painful 1-0 loss. However, at least this time, they will have the advantage of playing
at home, and the support of the Milan fans… on a Monday afternoon… (not sure
how many will actually show up.) Okay, at least on paper, they should have some
kind of advantage… I’m not sure anymore what that is.
Rumors are that Adil Rami will get his much anticipated
start for Milan, after training with the club since November. And Honda will be
in the stands to show his support, having just arrived from Japan. But as for
whomever else Allegri will start, I honestly have no idea. After his recent press
conference, I honestly don’t know how he will top the delusions, and so I
fear for the worst. Certainly we know that Muntari won’t be starting, so that
is a bit of a relief. And Birsa and El Shaarawy are still on the injury list,
not sure who else has yet to make it back from injury after the holidays.
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| Will these two continue to spread holiday cheer to Milanisti and punish their former team? |
Interestingly, Montolivo, Pazzini, and Coppola have all
played for Atalanta, and Yepes has played for Milan. Of those players, however,
Montolivo is likely to start, and Pazzini could possibly see some time, but
Coppola is unlikely to face his former team, and Yepes will sit this one
against his former Milan injured. Which is okay by me, Yepes is a personal
favorite, and it might kill me to see him play against us in the Nerazzurri, even if I wish he were
healthy.
But ex-clubs or no, the big question on the minds of
Milanisti everywhere is when will the real Milan show up? Will the rest of the
holiday break have inspired them? Or will it find them rusty and out of form?
Will all of the players returning from injury buoy the team up to grab three
points against what should be a lesser side? Or will the mentality of the first
half of the season continue to weigh down their efforts, performances, and
results? If La Befana truly wants to
bring gifts to all good little Milanisti worldwide, then I have to believe we can
take down at least one Nerazzurri team
this season. Because even if I don’t hate them nearly as much as our cugini, at this point, taking three
points from any Nerazzurri team is
the only gift I want from La Befana
this year.
This post inspired by the music of
Wolfmother’s “Witchcraft”
Our next match is
Milan vs. Atalanta
Monday, January 6 • 15:00 CET (9am EST)
This match will be broadcast on BeIn Sport and RAI in the US
Check comments for stream links ahead of the game