Now that Milan has developed a taste for silverware, we come
into the Coppa Italia Round of 16 with a chance at a real trophy. That’s right.
A trophy from an actual FIFA-sanctioned tournament and a ticket to the Super
Coppa and the Europa League, too. Oh yeah, don’t forget the patch. Whichever team hoists the Coppa
Italia trophy gets to wear that little target-shaped tricolore patch all next
season. So even if no one cares about the Coppa, this year, Milan must. Let’s
hope that we can show up like we did in all of those friendlies, especially
when it counts.
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| Eyes on the prize |
Sassuolo… well they’re
the same team that beat us 2-1 at the San Siro just 6 days ago. Since
then, they also had a 1-1 draw, their opponent being Udinese. Di Francesco lined up
Consigli; Longhi, Vrsajlko, Acerbi, Cannavar; Magnanelli, Missiroli, Brighi’
Zaza, Berardi, and Floro Flores. They had three times as many shots as Udinese
and 61% possession, but Udinese were more clinical. Kinda like Sassuolo were
with us. Sassuolo are still without goalkeeper Pegolo, and may also be missing
Gliozzi, Taider and Peluso to injuries.
Milan will be missing Mexes to suspension (yes, those do
carry over from the previous season in the Coppa.) Honda is still at the Asian
Cup, van Ginkel is still injured, and I haven’t heard anything as of this
writing about Niang after he took that awkward fall on Saturday.
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| Milan's curse: 4 goals against us last January, 2 assists last week. Maybe we should mark him? |
The winner of this match will face the winner of tomorrow’s
Torino-Lazio match in the Quarterfinals. That is where this gets challenging
for Milan. The other trophies we’ve won this season were not only friendlies,
but all won in a single night. To win the Coppa Italia, we’ve got to win three
matches (or maybe four, I think the semifinals is a two-legged affair.) So we
would need that thing called consistency, which has been particularly elusive
so far this season.
But I am getting way ahead of myself. Tomorrow we face the
little team that could… and did beat us at home just six days ago. We’ve got to
dig deeper and find what it takes to beat them first, or be eliminated from the
only competition we can possibly win a real trophy from this season. Milan have
shown moments of brilliance and have been hoarding trophies from friendlies
this season, but will they be able to show up and play when it counts?
This post inspired by the music of
Metallica
Coppa Italia Round of 16
Milan vs. Sassuolo
Tuesday, January 13 • 21:00 CET (3pm EST)
This match is being shown LIVE on BeIN Sports in the U.S.