Milan-Sassuolo Preview: Kryptonite For Mere Mortals

Kryptonite is green. Sassuolo are green. Coincidence? I think not. Sassuolo have traditionally been Milan’s kryptonite, with four wins and two losses in their league matches. But now, Sassuolo are also the Kryptonite for the rest of Serie A, finishing sixth last year and impressing in their Europa League debut this year, too. In particular, Berardi is Milan’s worst Kryptonite, with his radioactive four goals vs. Milan in January of 2014, the only player to ever score four goals in a single game against Milan. So we face a team that can not only take down Superman, but also mere mortals.

He may be Milan's ultimate Kryptonite, but Sassuolo will miss him dearly this time

Ironically, Sassuolo actually have three wins and three losses, putting them one point behind us on the table. And after a dream debut in the Europa League, they showed their mortality with a 3-1 loss to Racing Genk yesterday. So maybe their power over Milan will be lessened, too. But in the league, they are coming off of a 1-0 win over Udinese last Sunday (and remember, we lost 1-0 to Udinese.) For their win over Udinese, Di Francesco lined up: Consigli; Acerbi, Antei, Peluso, Lirola, Magnanelli, Mazzitelli, Biondini, Defrel, Ragus, and Politano.

Francesco Acerbi: Has made at least 8 more interceptions (29) than any other player in Serie A this season pic.twitter.com/N6IHVoTB42

— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) September 26, 2016

However, Di Francesco has a lot of potential injury and fitness woes. Berardi will miss due to injury, and as of this writing, so will Duncan, Cannavaro, Matri, Gazzola, Missiroli, and Sensi. However most of that list are fighting for match fitness for Sunday, so could be included in the squad. For Milan, though, we should be able to sleep better knowing that for once, Berardi won’t score against us. Of course, with our luck, he’ll score against us from the stands, even while injured.

Vangioni may see some time finally, with so many full backs not fit

Speaking of Milan’s luck, it’s not the best lately concerning injuries. We just got Antonelli back from injury, and he was injured again in training yesterday. His muscle injury will see him miss at least ten days, after which time he’ll be re-evaluated. In addition to the long term injuries of Zapata, Bertolacci, and Fernandez, Montella could be missing either De Sciglio and/or Calabria for this match, due to bruising.

It remains to be seen whether or not Milan can capitalize on Sassuolo’s bad luck and tired legs from their midweek European match, or whether our own luck will still see us powerless against their Kryptonite. Playing at the San Siro is no longer necessarily an advantage, with season ticket holders having abandoned their posts. Despite Milan sitting sixth on the table and Sassuolo sitting in ninth, they are still Kryptonite for mere mortals. So Milan will need to find a way to overcome the power they hold over us.

This post inspired by the music of John Williams’ “Theme from Superman (Main Title)”

Milan vs. Sassuolo

Sunday, October 2 • 18:00 CEST (12noon EDT)

This match will NOT be shown LIVE in the U.S.