Sunday afternoon should be very interesting. On the surface,
it is a matchup of 12th vs. 9th, and Milan have that four point advantage in
the table. But there is also something very familiar about these teams. Look a
little deeper and you will see players from both sides that have a history with
both clubs. For me, though, every time we go to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris,
there is a
strange chill that goes down my spine. Some stadiums are like a
fortress, but the Marassi is like a haunted
fortress. Whether we are playing Genoa or Sampdoria, it’s as if their 12th
man is a ghost. So even if Sunday is a match we should theoretically
win, it’s really anyone’s game in these familiar haunts.
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| That's right, you sold him, and now he's ours. It's payback time. |
Currently, Sampdoria have two ex-Milan players in Maxi Lopez
of Hotelgate fame and a player who never officially played for Milan, Bartosz
Salomon, both having been at Milan for a mere six months. But Milan have a few
more ghosts in their proverbial Sampdoria closet. Pazzini’s time at Sampdoria
put his career on the map. Poli also spent time in the Blucerchiati, and most
recently, Petagna spent the first 6 months of this season on loan to the club.
Perhaps lesser known is that Seedorf also played a season of his career at the
Marassi, so the haunted stadium is very familiar to him, too.
Sampdoria have earned their 12th place perch with seven
wins, seven draws, and ten losses. Their current run of form is L-D-W-W-L, with
heir most recent encounter an emphatic 3-0 lass to Roma on Sunday. For that
match, Mihajlovic lined up Costa; Mustafi, Regini, Gastaldello, De Silvestri;
Krsticic, Gabbiadini, Wszolek, Palombo, Soriano, and Eder. However, their
captain, Daniele Gastaldello got a second yellow during that match, and is thus
suspended for our match. Additionally, poor Maxi Lopez is scrambling to come
back from injury for our match, so is doubtful.
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| Will he make it back from injury in time to haunt us? |
Seedorf comes into the match with a Serie A win last week
vs. Bologna, but a heartbreaking loss to Atletico Madrid in the Champions
League on Wednesday. More importantly, he’s got a team that resembles the
walking dead more than a squad. In addition to the injuries of El Shaarawy,
Birsa, Robinho, Silvestre, and possibly Zapata, Balotelli is out for 10 days
with a shoulder injury and De Sciglio is out with an ankle injury.
The heartening part of the heartbreak on Wednesday is that
Milan played really well. But that was in the Champions League, we almost
always seem to be able to step it up in big games like that. But with injuries,
having to travel, and the ghosts of the Marassi to deal with, this game could
easily be skewed in Sampdoria’s favor. Add to that the fact that Milan haven’t
won away to Sampdoria since 2007, and it becomes a bit daunting. However,
Seedorf’s record in the league is W-W-D-L-W, our best string of results all
season by far. So it kind of depends on if you believe in Seedorf’s magic or
the Marassi’s ghosts more.
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| The battle of the -exes is in our favor this time |
For me, it is personal. We sent a brilliant young Petagna on
loan and Sampdoria barely played him at all, even though he is clearly very
talented. I am not sure whether to thank them for this, because it was one of
the factors that brought him back to the Rossoneri fold, or to be mad at them,
because he needed the playing time. It doesn’t really matter, I guess, just so
long as Seedorf gives him a few minutes to show them what they are missing.
With Balotelli out, Sampdoria’s exes could really come back to haunt them with
goals against their former club. So maybe Pazzini to start the massacre, and
Petagna to finish the job? That would be fine by me.
Even with the renewed optimism that Seedorf has brought with
him, I can’t confidently predict a Milan win here. There are too many factors
that could come into play. I can only hope for the best, hope that the injuries
don’t punish us too much, and hope that being tired from our Champions League
foray doesn’t hurt us, either. But most especially, I hope that it is our
ex-Sampdoria players who punish their former club, not the other way around.
That is the way to take advantage of such familiar haunts.
This post inspired by the music of
The Prodigy
Sampdoria vs. Milan
Sunday, February 23 • 15:00 CET (9am EST)
This match is being shown LIVE on BeIN Sport and RAI in the U.S.
Check the comments for stream links ahead of the match