Milan were not supposed to be here, this pressure was unexpected. Yet, being at the top of the table with only four games left, how could they not fight for the Scudetto? This match could be tricky. While Fiorentina seem to be falling apart, having lost their last three games straight, they managed to hand us our first league loss this season back in November. Facing Fiorentina is always emotional for Pioli, and our home form is not what it should be, either. The team will have to shrug off the pressure, play well during the afternoon time slot, and be absolutely hyperfocused.
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| Time to put the emotions aside and hyperfocus |
Vincenzo Italiano's side started off the season much better than expected. Not surprisingly, after selling their best player to Juventus in January for a massive bag of money, they sit just outside of European qualification now, seemingly self-destructing. Their most recent loss was a makeup match midweek in which they lost 4-0 to Udinese. For that match, Italiano lined up Terracciano; Odriozola, Milenković, Martinez Quarta, Biraghi; former beloved Milan player Bonaventura, Torreira, Duncan; Gonzalez, former Milan gunslinger Piatek, and Sottil. As of this writing, Italiano will only be missing Castrovilli, who is out for the season with an ACL injury.
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| We loved your "Pum pum pum" celebrations in the red and black, but not this time, please |
Pioli faces his former side, the side that changed his life and is the reason he has a DA13 tattoo. Tatarusanu also faces his former team, although gratefully, this time he should face them from the bench, as we will have both Maignan and Tomori for this encounter, unlike our last meeting. We will still be missing the Viking, Kjaer, as well as Florenzi, who is working hard to try to make it back before the end of the season. Bennacer did train with the team on Friday and will be available on Sunday. This is a much shorter injury list than we had when we traveled to the Artemio Franchi.
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| Whatever it takes. |
Fiorentina desperately need to pull themselves up out of their nosedive and salvage some points, but Milan need to win every game to win their first Scudetto in 11 years. Despite everyone's best efforts, Milan are well aware that it could be the referee, Valeri, who literally steals the show. At least Fiorentina fans will actually be able to attend after some terrible Inter-esque ticketing error by Milan. But whatever happens, Milan can hold their heads high if they do everything they can to win. There is no more room for error, they must be hyperfocused.
This post inspired by the music of John Williams' "Duel of the Fates"
Reviewed by Elaine
on
12:21 AM
Rating:
