Thursday
sees Milan finally return to Europe. Not to the Champions League, where we have
seven trophies. But rather to the Europa League, the only major competition
we’ve never won. And we are not going into the group stage, either. We will
have to play two qualifying rounds just to get there. While I am still not
convinced that this is a good idea for Milan right now, as it would be better
to focus on getting a top four spot in the league, it’s off to Romania we go.
For Milan’s return to Europe, it’s the final countdown.
 |
| It could be their Gustavo vs. our Gustavo |
Clobul
Sportiv Universitatea Craiova, also known as Universitatea Craiova or CS U
Craiova, is a Romanian top flight club whose claim to fame is reaching the UEFA
Cup League semifinal in the 1982-83 season. Currently, they are coached by
former Italy U21 coach Devis Mangia. While he is accustomed to coaching Serie B
teams or getting sacked by Zamparini in Serie A, he’s got a Romanian Liga 1
side now that actually placed fifth last year and are facing AC Milan in the
third round qualifying for the Europa League.
The
Romanian League already started in mid-July, so Universitatea Craiova already
have two matches under their belts. They have a win and a draw so far, with the
1-1 draw against Concordia this past weekend. For that match, Mangia lined up
Calancea; Demitrov, Spahija, Kelic, Briceag; Vagenin, Screciu, Zlatinski,
Bancu, Baluta; and Roman. Their stadium of 20,000 is sold out, I believe, for our match, and
their team
website is filled with news about “the game of the year.”
 |
| Coach Devis Eat is familiar with Italian tactics |
Before
you start getting all condescending about a Romanian Liga 1 team, you should
know that the official Milan Twitter account has been bragging about selling
30,000 tickets in just four days for the return leg. Like it or not, this game
is “the game of the year” for both teams, and there is even more pressure on
Montella than Mangia to make a good showing.
Bonucci
and Biglia will not be allowed to play in this match, as they were not
registered with UEFA in time. Which changes so much. Montella had indicated
that with Bonucci, he was considering switching to a 3-5-2. Without Bonucci
starting on Saturday vs. Bayern, he lined up a 4-3-3: G. Donnarumma; Abate, Musacchio,
Zapata, Rodriguez; Kessie Montolivo,
Bonaventura; Niang, Cutrone, and Borini. But that was just a friendly. We have to
think that he will take this more seriously.
 |
| "No pictures, please, this match is everything." |
Being the
team that has seven Champions League trophies does not give us the right to be
presumptuous here. This match is important to both teams. Perhaps even more
important to Milan than Craiova, actually, having invested so much in new
players. With the news of China cracking down on spending on football, Milan is
really going to have to do well in all three competitions to get some return on
the investment. Plus, as David said on the last
podcast, with this squad, we actually have a chance of winning the
Europa League. So this match is also our “game of the year.” And these hours
leading up to it are the Final Countdown for our return to Europe.
This match inspired
by the music of Europe’s “The Final Countdown”
The Serie A draw for the 2017-18 schedule is Wednesday at 19:00 CET (1pm EDT)
Our next match is
Europa League Third
Round Qualifier
CS U Craiova vs. AC
Milan
Thursday, July 27 •
8:00pm CET (2pm EDT)
-->