When we faced Torino in October, it was more of a
tranquilizing of the bulls, a 1-1
draw that probably neither side was thrilled with. But Milan were very
weak mentally at that point, coming off of a pummeling at the hands of Napoli, whereas Torino had been more consistent up until that point. Now the tables are
turned a bit, with talks of Ventura being sacked amidst inconsistent performances,
and talks of Mihajlovic getting sacked despite more convincing performances every
match we play. So perhaps this time it will be more like a bullfight should be,
with Torino chasing the red of Milan’s home kits, and Milan controlling and
eventually slaying the bull.
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| This old bull may be fighting one of his last fights for Torino |
Our last meeting with Torino was Ventura’s 1,000th match as
a coach. The question now is will this be his last? Torino sit in 11th place
with 8 wins, 8 draws, and 10 losses. But they are falling with mediocre and
even terrible performances coming more frequently. Their current form is
D-D-L-W-D, with that win coming against lower table Palermo. Now they have to
come to the San Siro and fight a galvanized and growing Milan squad. It doesn’t
look good for them. Or for Ventura.
For their goalless draw vs. Carpi last week, Ventura lined
up Padelli; Maksimovic, Moretti, Glik; Benassi, Baselli, Vives, Silva, Peres;
Belotti, and Immobile. However he will be missing some important pieces, too.
Benassi will sit this one out due to card accumulation, while Avelar, Gazzi,
Acqua, and Bovo are all out injured. So that is not helping Ventura’s cause.
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| Sorry, Amauri, your Milan abuse is over. Have fun in Brazil or the MLS. |
But the biggest loss that they are still reeling from is the
termination of Amauri’s contract, as the big Brazilian has his eyes set on
playing mostly awfully in either Brazil or the MLS. How does a team replace Amauri? They don’t. Under any circumstances. But Milan should be grateful, as he was one of those players who always managed
to score against us, no matter which jersey he wore. Even if he struggled to score at all otherwise. So it is great news for us. But Torino have the Hotelgate™ ex-Milan
star Maxi Lopez who could score against us, as well as their assassinator
captain, Glik who might physically hurt every one of our players… maybe even
the ones on the bench. I certainly wouldn’t put it past him.
Milan have some missing pieces, too. With the ever-absent
Mexes, Ely, and Lopez out with injuries, Adriano’s fitness is in question, as
is Romagnoli’s, despite training with the team yesterday after a bout with the
flu. But the most devastating loss for Torino is our captain, the one and only
Montolivo. He is suspended for card accumulation, and let’s just tack on bad
hair, poor leadership, losing the ball all of the time, etc. Let’s just tack
that stuff on there because then fans will have some vindication as they watch
Bertolacci or Mauri or whomever Mihajlovic deems worthy to take his place
actually keep the ball when it is passed to them and not give it to Torino. We
will rejoice that the armband will likely be given to Abate, a Milan youth
product and a player who has actually been her longer than Montolivo. Sorry
Torino, your source for balls passed to you from a Milan player in or near our
goal is going to be sitting this match out. You’re going to have to actually
win the ball of your own accord.
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| Who wins in a bullfight? ChewBacca or the bull? My money is on Chewie. |
I actually hate bullfighting, it’s so cruel and inhumane and
gory (pun intended.) But I am so ready for this bullfight. I’ll be wearing my
red and black jersey and be ready to slay any bull that runs near me. I’ve got
three and a half years of heartbreak and pain and a whole lot of testosterone
pent up inside of me waiting to get out, and Torino picked the wrong time to
face my team. So sorry, Ventura, sorry my sweet Maxi Lopez. I’m ready for a
bullfight, and you guys are the bulls, we are the matadors. I don’t see this
one ending scoreless, but I promise we’ll try to make it quick and as painless
as possible for you.
This post was inspired by the music
of Sonic Youth’s “Bull in the Heather”
Milan vs. Torino
Saturday, February 27 • 20:45 CET (2:45pm EST)
This match will be shown LIVE on RAI and BeIN Sports in the U.S.