Milan reaffirmed their faith in Pioli on Friday by renewing his contract through 2023, with the option of another year. This was a well-deserved and very anticipated renewal. In fact, I have no idea what the press will ask him about every time they interview him going forward. Milan are tired after traveling to Madrid midweek and playing with so many players injured. But Maignan has been training with gloves again this week and is anxious to be back as soon as possible. Reports as of this writing are that we could have Tomori back, at least on the bench for this match, which would be at least a mental renewal for our battle-weary warriors.
 |
| Morning renewal |
Sassuolo currently sit 13th on the table with 15 points from their 13 games thus far. Under Dionisi this season, they have four wins, three draws and six losses, but one of their wins was against midtable Juventus. Their current form coming into this match is two wins, two losses, and a draw. Last Sunday their match ended in a 2-2 draw against Cagliari. For that game, Dionisi lined up Consigli; Toljan, Ayhan, Ferrari, Rogério; Frattesi, López, Traoré; Berardi, Scamacca, and Raspadori. Dionisi will be missing Frattesi, who is suspended for this match due to blasphemy. Djuricic is out injured, Obiang has bronchial pneumonia, and Boga is in doubt as of this writing due to fitness issues. But Sassuolo are rested, not having played midweek. Plus, they still have their attacking trident, and Berardi is Milan's Kryptonite, having scored more goals against us than he has scored against any other team.
 |
| Berardi when he sees Milan on the schedule |
Pioli has his contract renewal in hand, but is still missing Plizzari, Calabria, Rebić, Castillejo, and now Giroud to injury. The media has been talking about Maignan possibly returning as soon as Sunday, but that seems both unwise and unlikely, even if he has been cleared to train with gloves again. With Tomori potentially returning, our backline would be shored up, but losing Giroud and having Rebić out compounds the fact that Leão has been running out of gas after playing so much and also that we cannot afford to lose Ibrahimović again to injury. Pioli's go-to player-of-all positions, Krunić, was invisible even for a ghost on Wednesday, and we will definitely need goals against Sassuolo.
 |
| To get both players back would be a double renewal |
Maybe looking at the table, you might think this would be an easy match, but this is actually a very important one to keep our momentum and mentality going. Especially facing a rested and hungry Sassuolo who need points. With an average of five to six players missing every match to some weird injury or another, Milan's mentality could wear thin again, just like it did last season. A win in this match would fortify that mentality, and if we can get a few more players healthy to get through the end of the calendar year, then perhaps in January, when more of our players come back, we could actually experience a renewal.
This post inspired by the music of Muse's "Butterflies and Hurricanes"
Reviewed by Elaine
on
1:30 AM
Rating:
