Milan-Sassuolo Preview: Party at San Siro

Milan come into this match with confidence, playing steadily better and now having won two in a row. It is also Milan’s 120th birthday celebration, so there will be a lot of Milan legends there, with a Walk of Fame scheduled for halftime. The players will need to focus, and as Pioli says, play with intensity for all 90 minutes against 14th place Sassuolo to earn a third consecutive win. If they do manage to pull it off, there will be a party at San Siro.

Intensity

De Zerbi’s side have struggled this year, with four wins, three draws, and seven losses and a game in hand. They also just got knocked out of the Coppa Italia by former Milan player-turned-coach Massimo Oddo’s Perugia. Last weekend, they held Serie A’s Cinderella team of the year, Cagliari, to a 2-2 draw, despite Berardi missing a penalty. For that matchup, De Zerbi lined up Turati; Toljan, Romagna, Marlon, Kyriakopoulos; Magnanelli, beloved ex-Milan Locatelli; Berardi, Djuricic, Boga; and Caputo. De Zerbi will be missing Chiriches, Consigli, and Defrel to injury.

Pioli is now apparently proclaimed a hero after the hashtag #PioliOut trended before he even signed for Milan. He certainly has stabilized the mentality, and you can see it grow a little more with each match. He will be missing Duarte, but may have Caldara back finally, after his long injury. The goal will be to increase that mentality even more, especially after back to back wins, and continue winning and hope that we can possibly catch up to those top four spots.

A perfect party includes celebrations

Sassuolo tragically lost their owner and lifelong Milan fan, Squinzi earlier this year, followed shortly thereafter by his wife. Let’s hope that his Milan fandom will smile from above upon the team of his heart, not the team of his wallet.

Certainly, a win with all of those ex-Milan players attending would be a great gift for a glorious club celebrating 120 years. Particularly after the past ten years of decline and so many changes in ownership, management, and on the bench. It is impossible to tell what the future holds for Milan at this point, however if they take three points on Sunday, there will certainly be a party at the San Siro.

This post inspired by the music of Fishbone’s “Party at Ground Zero”

Serie A Week 16

Milan vs. Sassuolo

Sunday, December 15 • 15:00 CET (9am EST)

This match can be streamed LIVE on ESPN+