Chievo-Milan Preview: The Other Verona

The original Verona team is holding down the bottom of table, while Chievo Verona currently sit in 10th place. And while Milan were able to pull off a 1-0 vs. Chievo at the San Siro in October, now we are going to the Bentegodi, a very tough stadium for opposition teams. And we are also coming off of a very poor performance and a loss vs. Sassuolo last week. So the question on everyone’s minds is can we get past the other Verona?

Donkeys aren't the only ones who can fly

Chievo have been quite inconsistent lately, with a recent form of W-D-L-W-L. The first loss had to be the painful one, as Hellas Verona held them to a 3-1 win in their derby, only their second win of the season. However it is last week’s loss, also 3-1, but this time to second place Napoli, that will be fueling their determination in this match.

For that match, Maran lined up Bizzarri; Dainelli, Cesar, Nicolas Frey, Cacciatore; Rigoni, Radovanovic, Castro; Birsa, Pellissier, and Mpoku. Yes, that is former Milan star Valter Birsa in that lineup, so be very afraid. Additionally, in case you think it’s only Milan that inspires the opposition goalkeepers, you should know that Bizzarri fended off 25 Napoli shots with ten of those on goal, only conceding the three goals. So expect him to make things difficult. Maran will be missing a few players, like Mattiello and Gamberini, with Izco and Inglese listed as questionable fitness as of this writing.

So Mihajlovic...

Milan will be missing someone very important: Mihajlovic. He will be serving a touchline ban after sharing some choice words with the ref during the Sassuolo match. The good news is that the players can leave their water bottles lying around anywhere they want near the technical area this week. The bad news is that it may be harder for them to receive the awesomeness and grinta he oozes if he is in the stands instead. And after last week’s performance, they need every drop of that they can get.

Others who will miss this match are of course Ely and Niang, as well as Montolivo, still struggling with that tendon issue. Hopeful of a callup are Mexes and Adriano. However the latter posted a picture of himself on Instagram the other day wearing a ridiculous outfit while shopping in Milano. So if you think Instagram is a reliable source, he’s probably not going to make it. Because he probably re-injured himself wearing that clown suit.

This man needs to get out of the stores and back onto the pitch. Immediately.

This is going to be a struggle, I’m not going to lie. But the biggest struggle for fans west of Italy is going to be getting up for the match. With Daylight Savings Time starting, we think it’s an hour later, but for me, it will still be 3:30am, not 4:30am. That is mighty early to see a bunch of flying donkeys trying to thwart my team’s bid for a Europa League spot. Especially when you consider that even if Chievo Verona have spent more time recently in Serie A than their cross town rivals, to me they’ll always be the other Verona.

  

This post inspired by the music of The Bolshoi’s “Fly”

Chievo vs. Milan

Sunday, March 13 • 12:30 CET (7:30am EDT)*

This match will be shown LIVE on RAI in the U.S.

*Reminder to U.S. fans that Daylight Savings Time begins at 2am on Sunday so be sure to set your clocks forward for the game