Once again, Milan are on a high after qualifying for the Champions League Semifinals midweek. Once again, they are facing a team just above the drop zone. While Milan have specialized in dropping points this calendar year, it feels like they particularly play poorly after a spectacular performance like that. Lecce will no doubt be aware of this, and with nothing to lose and everything to play for, I'm sure will take advantage of it. But if Milan are going to get back into the top four, they absolutely must win every match. It is time to stop with this inconsistent nonsense and show up in every match, not just the big ones... seriously.
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| Let's try to play some actual starters this time please, Pioli... seriously |
Lecce are in 16th place for a reason. Their last five matches have been L-L-L-L-D. That draw was a 1-1 stalemate last week vs. bottom of the table Sampdoria. For that match, Baroni lined up: Falcone; Gendrey, Baschirotto, Umtiti, Gallo; Hjulmand; Strefezza, Blin, Oudin, Di Francesco; and Ceesay. He will be missing Pongračić to injury, and our very own Lorenzo Colombo of "I only score golazzos" fame conveniently got the flu the week he would face his parent team, so was not called up for this one.
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| Feel better, Colombo. Thanks for taking one for the team... for Milan. |
Pioli got some good news this week as Ibrahimović returned to full training with the team. He is called up for this match, but Pioli said his match fitness is still limited, so I would not expect him to start or play a lot of minutes if at all. Unfortunately, Giroud is out with a calf tendon injury, so our goals will have to come from somewhere else. UPDATE: Pobega suffered a collision in a training match on Saturday and suffered a compound rib fracture, so will also be out injured. Additionally, Calabria is suspended for this match, so we will likely see the grinta of Florenzi start on the right in his place. All I ask is that he doesn't make ten changes to the starting lineups. Or even five, really.
I could write a lot about how important this match is. There are eight matches left, and with Juventus' 15 points restored, at least temporarily, Milan literally need every point from here on out. We cannot count on the FIGC to do their job and punish Juve ahead of next season. We may have better chances of UEFA banning them from European competition, but just to be safe, we really need to get top four ourselves. And that starts with facing Lecce and taking all three points. If we can get to a Champions League semifinal, we should at least be able to do that... seriously.
This post inspired by the music of The Cure's "The Same Deep Water As You"
Reviewed by Elaine
on
8:45 AM
Rating:
