Crotone
are in 17th place, sitting five points behind Empoli. Catching and passing
Empoli or 16th place Genoa on the table is their only hope of survival in Serie
A. I Squali (the Sharks) are
literally fighting for their Serie A survival, which means they will defy even
the laws of nature in order to avoid the same fate of another club with a
marine mascot, i Dolfini, who are
already mathematically relegated. Even if they have to create a Sharknado to
get three points at home on Sunday, they will. So grab your chainsaws,
grenades, and any other possible Sharknado weapons and be prepared for
anything.
 |
| Hope he's got his chainsaw ready again. |
The Sharks
do not want to go down easy. Their current form is L-W-W-D-W. I mean one of
those wins I can totally endorse, as they beat Inter. But their form is great
and they are also playing at home, so a Sharknado is likely coming our way. For
their 2-1 defeat of Sampdoria on Sunday, Nicola lined up Cordaz; Ferrari,
Ceccherini, Martella, Rosi, Crisetig, Barberis, Nalini, Rohden, Trotta, and
Falcinelli. Also, Nicola has zero injuries or suspensions, so has a full frenzy
of sharks with which to attack Milan with.
Montella,
on the other hand, has plenty of blood in the water. Both Sosa and De Sciglio
are suspended for this match. Abate, Bonaventura, and Antonelli are out
injured, while Bertolacci is hoping just to make the bench. He has returned to
partial training so far this week after being out for a while to injury. Romagnoli is still expected
to miss as of this writing, too, after a knock in training ahead of last week’s
match. So look for that unpredictable duo of Paletta and Zapata most likely
starting in the central defense, surrounded by our only two available
fullbacks, Calabria and Vangioni. Kind of like heading into shark infested
waters with a leaky boat and a nosebleed.
 |
| Certainly going to miss Romagnoli on this one... |
Despite defeating
Crotone 2-1 in December, we did not play convincingly against them
then. Now that they are desperate, I honestly don’t expect this to go well. The
loss to Empoli last week showed that some
things never change, and especially the fans’ response to that loss. I
can only hope that this time, people can face the match more realistically, and
perhaps with more alcohol. Despite our positions on the table, we need to
respect the fact that Crotone are fighting for more than we are. And if we want
this win, we’re going to have to dig really, really, deep and want it even more
than they do. No, this is not just a warning. It’s a full blown Sharknado
Alert.
This post inspired by the so-bad-they’re-amazing
Sharknado movies
Crotone vs. Milan
Sunday, April 30 •
15:00 CST (9am EDT)
This match will be
shown LIVE on RAI in the U.S.