Milan-Sassuolo Preview: The Coaches' Curse

Almost ten years ago, in January of 2014, Milan lost 4-3 to Sassuolo, which was the last straw for Allegri. He was the last manager to last nearly as long as Pioli, too. With the failure to qualify for the Champions League Round of 16, and an inability to string together a consistent run of results, there is much speculation that this could be Pioli's last match as well. Despite some unprecedented injuries, as we talked about on the latest podcast, Milan's only hope is that Sassuolo have been underperforming. They also have to play at the San Siro, although that may not help Milan as much, as fans have quickly become disillusioned of late. Will Pioli still be in charge after this match? That is the question on everyone's mind as he faces the coaches' curse.

Will he stay or will he go?

Podcast: Can Milan's Injury Crisis Be Solved?

The catastrophic injury crisis at the club right now is so severe that I actually recorded a podcast about it. And I honestly don't know which of those things is more shocking or distressing. However, I did not take my task lightly, I wanted to talk to someone with some expertise. So I invited David back, who is a lifelong Milan fan, but is also a brilliant physiotherapist by trade. Longtime podcast listeners will remember him well, but will also appreciate his knowledge about this specific conversation as we discuss injuries, Pioli and his staff, current management, the return of Ibrahimović, and more.

Kalulu's injury is very unusual, even more unusual that Pobega's seems to be identical.

Salernitana 2, Milan 2: Underwhelming

After winning two matches in a row away to Newcastle and then against Monza at home, Milan traveled to Salerno on Friday with high hopes, facing the 20th place Salernitana. Pippo Inzaghi's side, however, came to play, and despite taking an early lead, Milan conceded two, had another center back go off with a muscle injury, and had to fight until the bitter end just to grab an equalizer to make it 2-2 and take a point home. Their performance was underwhelming to say the least.

When scoring a 90th minute goal is not enough for a win...

Salernitana-Milan Preview: The One Where We Face Pippo

Friday night Milan face bottom of the table Salernitana, who have won only one match thus far this season. That match was won after they replaced manager Paulo Sousa in October with someone Milan fans know very well: Pippo Inzaghi, the legendary Milan striker who began his coaching career at Milan. Since taking over, he has only managed to secure five points for the team from Campania, and fans are very unhappy with the results. They should be even more unhappy with the club's finances, which are quite poor since Danilo Iervolino took over from Claudio Lotito, despite relatively large investments from the young Italian billionaire. Just this week, it was announced that Walter Sabatini is coming back to the struggling club, just in time for the January transfer window. That, however, will not help them on Friday as Milan invade Salerno with a bit of confidence. Even if Milan fans will likely have a little ambivalent, as this is the one where we face Pippo.

Pippo, at the age of 50, is older than Salernitana's owner.

Milan 3, Monza 0: A Walk in the Park, with Injuries

The day after Milan's 124th Birthday, the team gave fans the perfect gift – one of the most convincing matches they have played since early in the season, for a 3-0 win over Monza. After their win midweek against Newcastle that saw them fall out of the Champions League into the Europa League, and especially with the early time slot, this would have been an easy match to drop points in. After all, Palladino has Monza playing good football, and they certainly created plenty of chances. However, what we could not have foreseen was that Milan would handle the match with such focus and ease, yet lose two more players to injury. In spite of a staggering 29 injuries now so far this season, Milan managed this one like a walk in the park.

They made it all look so easy...

Milan-Monza Preview: The Imposters

Saturday marked Milan's 124th Birthday, and Cardinale and Furlani's pettiness was on full display in the official social media post. Milan fans did not miss the fact that the man who won five of our seven Champions League trophies and seven of our 19 Scudetti on the pitch, as well as our most recent Scudetto as a director had the smallest picture. (The largest picture was reserved for RedBird's newest employee, Ibrahimović, which is just disgusting, even he does not like such blatant brown nosing. And the absurd hot air balloon should not have even been there, but was as big as Maldini's pic.) After failing to wish Daniel Maldini, a currently owned Milan player, a happy birthday on social media, this was too much even for those who had failed to support Maldini when he was shamelessly sacked by these charlatans. Already this week, we saw the team miss the mark in the Champions League and drop down to the Europa League qualifiers. Clearly, our club is run by imposters.

Revising Milan's history since 2022.

Newcastle United FC 1, AC Milan 2: Mutating Milan's DNA

The Champions League group of death saw Dortmund, with an annual wagebill of €127 million, go through at the top of the group. In second place for the Round of 16 was PSG, who have an annual wagebill of €291 million. Milan, with a wagebill of only €86 million annually, managed a 2-1 win over Newcastle, who have an annual wagebill of €98 million. (All wages according to capology.com) In that sense, perhaps Milan overachieved just slightly, being the team with the lowest wagebill in the group. However, Milan's DNA is in the Champions League. For Gerry Cardinale's reference, since he has not really kept up with these things, Milan have never won the Europa League. Considering all he has done this year to remove the Milan from Milan, it definitely seems that this new owner and management are tangibly mutating Milan's DNA.

Not even any recognizable Milan DNA from last year's Champions League run here.

Champions League Group Stage • Newcastle United FC-AC Milan: Doomsday

If Group F is the Group of Death, then Wednesday is Doomsday, at least for one of the clubs in the group. Currently, Milan are in that fourth spot going into the match, based on goal differential. However, anything is still possible - Champions League Round of 16, Europa League, or being knocked out – depending on the results of both games. Neither Milan nor Newcastle are coming into this match with any kind of consistent form, so it may just be a matter of Newcastle parking the bus for 90 minutes to protect their advantage. Since Milan have only scored three goals in the entire competitions this season, it may be a worthwhile bet. And if it works, it would be a very costly result for Milan, losing up to €100 million in revenue compared to last year. Doomsday.

Our match vs. Newcastle at San Siro was the one that got away.

Atalanta 3, Milan 2: Bloody December

Saturday evening, Milan went to Bergamo looking for three points, but came back empty-handed. After two consecutive league wins, Milan lost 3-2 to Atalanta. While at least the five goals were more evenly distributed than the 5-0 Christmas Massacre four years ago, losing to Gasperini's side is also painful. Worse still, a late sending off with Milan's fifth red card of the season directly contributed to the loss, emphasizing the disciplinary issues on top of the loss. What Milan fans were hoping was the turn of the tide turned into the start of a potentially bloody December. 

A loss in the 95th minute on 10 men is a bitter pill to swallow.

Atalanta-Milan Preview: Dichotomy

Milan have a recent history with Atalanta of matches that are either a massive failure or an important success. For some reason, it seems like there are fewer matches in between. For Pioli, the Christmas Massacre of 2019 in Bergamo, when Milan lost 5-0 to Atalanta, was the failure that helped unify his team and fueled his successful run to the Scudetto. While wins like the 2-0 win away in May of 2021 secured our return to the Champions League, and a 2-0 win at San Siro a year later was our penultimate victory when we won our first league title in 11 years. So, which Milan team shows up in Bergamo Saturday evening? Will it be the unified, focused Pioli side that does what it takes to win? Or will they fall apart again, creating yet another disaster in December? Facing Atalanta almost always seems to be a dichotomy between failure and success.

Which Milan and which Pioli will show up against Atalanta?

The Maldini Interview: Truth, Narrative, and Results

Six months ago today, Maldini was suddenly and very callously sacked by Cardinale. Since then, much was spoken about his dismissal, mainly by the media and fans. However, on Friday, an interview with Maldini was published in which the former Technical Director and legendary Milan bandiera and captain set the record straight about what really transpired. That interview demonstrated the growing gap between the truth, the narrative in the media, and the results, which speak for themselves.

When the truth aligns with results, the narrative is just a story.

Milan 3, Frosinone 1: Liberated

Little was talked about this match ahead of time, because there was so much more to talk about after Maldini gave an interview to La Repubblica this week. Some felt it would be a distraction for the players, but actually, it distracted the toxic Italian media from pre-analyzing and destroying the confidence of the squad before they ever stepped onto the pitch. In fact, the media were more silent than usual, having themselves been guilty of hypercriticizing Maldini and speculating and falsely reporting the sequence of events surrounding his departure. This allowed Pioli and the team to focus on the match at hand, and despite missing nine players, they managed a 3-1 win over Di Francesco's Frosinone. Instead of the interview being a distraction for the team, they were liberated.

Free the Jović.

Milan-Frosinone Preview: With Maldini's Blessing

Whatever is happening at the San Siro tomorrow, it is being overshadowed in the news by the interview fans have waited six long months for. Since Maldini and Massara were suddenly sacked on June fifth, we had only heard the gaslighting from Cardinale, Scaroni, and Furlani, who, as it turns out were all architects of or complicit in this plan. But Maldini finally was able to control his emotions enough to speak evenly and tell the truth about everything that happened in an interview for La Repubblica. Some people question his timing, given the difficulties the team is suffering right now. But I think it takes the pressure off the players, it frees them from all the secrets. This interview allows them to face Frosinone tomorrow with Maldini's blessing.

Maldini loves this team more than this management could ever comprehend.

AC Milan 1, Borussia Dortmund 3: Consequences

Actions have consequences. There are also consequences for not taking action. This game was a result of many things. Mentality, injuries, decisions made, errors on and off the pitch. But the most glaring action was one taken late on June fifth of this year, and all of the subsequent actions after that. Milan's DNA was systematically extracted this summer, along with all of the heart and grinta that took what many believe was a lesser team to the Champions League semifinals last season. And the consequences for that are that Milan are at the bottom of Group F, looking at elimination in the Group Stage. Or worse, a run in the Europa League with this beleaguered squad, a competition Milan has never succeeded in. Milan's lack of action in addressing the horrific injury plague has now taken another victim, leaving Milan with only one healthy center back. So very many consequences.

Ancelotti: "Football clubs who primarily think of doing business ahead of achieving sporting goals are destined to fail."

Champions League Group Stage • AC Milan-Borussia Dortmund: No Uncertain Terms

This group was deemed the "Group of Death" from day one, and it has lived up to its name. Milan have done themselves no favors, however, by putting themselves in a must-win situation to qualify for the knockout round. Dortmund come into this match at the top of Group F for now, But true to its reputation, no one is safe yet in this group. This matchday could see anything happen. However, Milan is the only team in the group to have never topped the table, and thus need all three points to keep their Champions League dream alive. Their job is spelled out for them in no uncertain terms.

You have one job, Milan.

Milan 1, Fiorentina 0: When Push Comes to Shove

For all the quality this management supposedly brought in this summer, their shortsightedness and the deficiencies in the squad have been impacting the team when things were less than ideal. First the shortage in defense, now the lack of a proper backup at center forward. Of course, that led to 15 year-old Francesco Camarda making history by being the youngest player ever to debut in Serie A. Which is great, but what will the consequences be for him? Will the media destroy him like it has others? What was the benefit to the team? This match proved that whatever quality was brought in, this team is still dependent upon the core players that the previous management built this team on. And when they are missing, the performances suffer. Just like all of the fans suffered through this match. In the end, Milan took the 1-0 victory over Fiorentina because of a penalty they conceded. Literally, when push comes to shove.

United in mediocrity.

Milan-Fiorentina Preview: Desperate Measures

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and with Milan's injury crisis right now, that is exactly where Pioli is at. Management were criticized for not finding a backup for Giroud, then at literally the final moments of the transfer window, ended up signing former Fiorentina player Jović, who has unfortunately not made any impact at all. Now management are being criticized even more for their shortsightedness, but Pioli has had to do something practical to address the crisis at center forward on Saturday. So he is calling up the goalscoring wonder, 15 year-old Francesco Camarda, from the Primavera squad. A huge gamble, to put such a young player on such a big stage, but desperate times do call for desperate measures.

Pioli making desperate decisions under desperate situations.

The Real Scandal Behind Betting in Italy

Last month, another scandal hit Italian football. Which sadly, is never surprising, and one of the main reasons Serie A continues to struggle as a league. This one, however focuses primarily on a few players. The investigation actually began in late August, apparently, but was blown wide by a man who has served time for extortion. The media claims that the scandal is that these players have been placing illegal bets, with Juventus' Nicolò Fagioli and former Milan favorite Sandro Tonali already receiving bans and treatment for gambling addiction. But the real scandal behind betting in Italy is that only the players are being punished, and that the gambling industry, even the illegal portion, is being protected.

Is it the grinta? Is that a risk factor in gambling disorder?

Milan's Injury Nightmares

After years of Milan struggling with injuries, the latest surge of players getting injured has finally got people looking at the numbers. And those numbers are staggering. Milan have had 24 injuries already this season, more than Juventus and Inter combined, and 21 of those 24 injuries have been muscle-related injuries. A shocking more than 500 days out injured as a squad. And, as Pioli pointed out postmatch on Saturday, these cannot all be due to just bad luck. While the players are all at Milanello injured or on national team duty, everyone is speculating about Milan's injury nightmares.

Pioli's recurring nightmares.

Lecce 2, Milan 2: Chaos

This match might have presented a challenge, but on paper should have been a formality. Yet Milan dropped two more points and lost two more starters to injury as well as a player to suspension. What began as a scrappy Saturday afternoon match quickly descended into pain, then misery, then chaos as Milan lost their 2-0 lead and their heads to draw 2-2 with Lecce. Worse still, the voices who have been tediously screaming Pioli Out for four very long years are now hysterically insisting that the Club sack him. Truly, since June fifth, the club has just been on a one way descent into chaos.

Sure, he said what we all wanted to, but still...

Lecce-Milan Preview: Ready, Steady, Go

Milan took fans for a wild ride this past week. After their worst performance of the year and the 1-0 loss to Udinese last week, they defeated PSG 2-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday in one of their best performances of the year. Now, ahead of the international break next week, they are away to 13th place Lecce on Saturday afternoon. Three points is the least they are expected to do, with a good performance and no new injuries the ideal scenario. But above all, they need to settle into a mental rhythm again that helps them to perform (and hopefully win) consistently. Ready, steady, go.

Now Milan need to keep the performances and their mentality steady.

AC Milan 2, Paris Saint-Germain FC 1: Miracle at San Siro

After what even Florenzi described as Milan's worst performance of the season on Saturday, fans were rightfully filled with a sense of dread for this match. Milan had not scored in the Champions League before tonight, and PSG had dismissed Milan 3-0 in Paris two weeks ago as well. Pioli's superpower has always been mentality, and especially being able to pull the team together and get a reaction like this 2-1 win over PSG after a dreadful performance. However, with so much of the Milan gone from Milan this season, even the most ardent believers rightfully questioned whether it was possible. However, with a few key players returning from injury and a sold out San Siro stadium behind them, this team dug deep and performed a miracle at San Siro.

Current mood.

Champions League Group Stage • AC Milan-Paris Saint-Germain FC: Do We Have To?

When Milan traveled to Paris two weeks ago, there was some hope that the team could compete with the Ligue 1 financial powerhouse. But then again, Milan went into that match with a tiny amount of dignity. After losing to PSG 3-0 in Paris, Milan gave up a two goal lead to draw with Napoli away, then lost 1-0 to 17th place Udinese on Saturday at San Siro. I think it's safe to say that all dignity, if not all hope, is lost. And other than a handful of Milan Ultras with a stupid vendetta, I think most Milan fans are dreading this match. Do we really have to watch?

If we must watch, at least support our own goalkeeper.

Milan 0, Udinese 1: The Nightmare Continues

It was very clear from his prematch press conference that Pioli had hit the panic button and that this was going to be one of those matches. After weeks of hypercriticism from the toxic Italian media, and the Pioli Out hashtag surfacing while Pioli had this team comfortably in first place, as well as an endless stream of injuries, a lot of discipline issues, and a string of poor results, this 1-0 loss to 17th place Udinese was certainly not a shock. Another poor performance, another three points dropped, and another injury. The nightmare continues.

They dedicated this match to Kalulu, then played as if they were anesthetized.

Milan-Udinese Preview: Zombie Nightmare

November is here, Halloween is over. But not for Milan. In a nightmare that is all too familiar, Milan are missing many players to injury yet again, including serious injuries. Kalulu had surgery this week to repair a torn tendon, and the brand new Pellegrino is out with a broken foot. The good news is that we have already faced Roma, Inter, Juventus, and Napoli. The bad news is that we have to face all of the other clubs this round with yet another insane injury crisis. And history shows us that Milan tend to struggle more with the clubs who are not contenders for top four, anyway. So, while most clubs would love to be facing a relegation-threatened team at home at this point in the season, Milan have another injury apocalypse and this match could easily be yet another zombie nightmare.

Loftus-Cheek has finally been resurrected for this one, but we lost other players to injury.

Napoli 2, Milan 2: Frustrations

Between the shock firing of a club legend, then the massive €134 million summer spend, a great start to our Serie A campaign, followed by a goal drought and the possibility of going out of the Champions League group stage, emotions of the Milan faithful have been all over the map this past five months. Then the team traveled to Napoli, where the Napoli fans once again did not disappoint, throwing fireworks and objects at traveling fans and the Milan bench. In spite of the tense atmosphere, Milan went up 2-0 with a Giroud brace in the first half, only to concede two goals and drop points in a disappointing 2-2 draw with Napoli. Giroud uncharacteristically lost his temper when subbed, and the pressure of the season added to the chaos in the stadium led to an escalation of frustrations.

Giroud scored a quick brace, but was left disappointed when Napoli equalized.

Napoli-Milan Preview: Cauldron of Hate

The people of Naples and fans of Napoli tell themselves and the world that everyone in Naples are the most wonderful, loving people. But last year, their fans were the source of the most hate, racism, and violence toward Milan players and fans, with no provocation from our fans or players outside of sporting results. Not to mention the havoc they wreaked elsewhere. Their owner, De Laurentiis, when being interviewed about his team winning the Scudetto after 30 years, could not stop talking about how his team were robbed by referees in our Champions League matchups (even though we had beaten them 4-0 in the league as well.) I was already dreading this fixture, when I found out that the heightened security and threat of cancelling our midweek Champions League match this past Wednesday in Paris was... wait for it... because Napoli fans were invited by PSG fans to the match. Whatever with the football, I just hope all of our players and fans survive their trip to the Stadio Diego Maradona, the cauldron of hate.

No Osimhen, no problem for Napoli, except when Kvaratskhelia met Calabria last season.

Paris Saint-Germain FC 3, AC Milan 0: Punished in Paris

Milan finally played a group stage match that was not a goalless draw. Unfortunately, it was also a 3-0 loss to the third place Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain. From a referee who dealt yellow cards like a poker dealer to facing one of the best strikers in the world, you could say that this Milan loss was predictable. But each of Milan's four yellow cards (and the second one he did not give to Tomori) represent errors, which was a running theme for Milan. While Pioli was not wrong in that Milan played well for much of the game, their inability to convert, coupled with those errors, saw Milan punished in Paris.

A family reunion gone badly, at least for Theo.

Champions League Group Stage • Paris Saint-Germain FC-AC Milan: Clash of the Keepers

Milan's trip to Paris on Wednesday highlights one of the most dramatic transfer sagas of the post-Berlusconi era. After years of being financially and emotionally blackmailed by Gigio Donnarumma's former agent, Maldini and Massara quietly signed Lille's goalkeeper, Mike Maignan, in the ultimate gangster sporting director move. Donnarumma infamously went to Paris Saint-Germain, where our old friend former player former scout former coach traitorous former Inter coach former sporting director Leonardo was spending other people's money. Again. Ironically, Maignan had come through PSG's youth sector and began his career there, so it was almost a swap. Given the two club's fortunes since, most Milan fans would likely agree we got the better deal. But on Wednesday, there will be 90 minutes to test that theory on the pitch in this, the Clash of the Keepers.

Maignan goes home to prove himself in a must-win match.

Milan 0, Juventus 1: Growing Pains

A naive error from our 22 year-old center back put us down to ten men for 50 minutes of this match. A veteran player returning from injury gave the ball away and then inadvertently deflected the ball into the net for the singular goal. While these events overtly were the determining factors, one cannot overlook the fact that Milan also had eight players missing due to injury or suspension, several who were sorely missed and could have very much influenced this match. If you must place blame, place it where you will. But Milan losing 1-0 to a relatively feeble Juventus was more a sign of growing pains than anything else.

Even if some players step up to fill gaps, this team is still growing.

Milan-Juventus Preview: This Seems Familiar

Milan are coming back from the international break missing key players to injury or suspension. Of course we are, because we are hosting Juventus on Sunday at the San Siro. In the first of a daunting run of fixtures where we could really use everyone fit. Of course, Juve are not without their own familiar struggles, with a few players injured and players suspended for both doping and illegal betting. All we need is a scandalous referee performance to hand this match to Juventus, and this will be a cookie-cutter Milan-Juve matchup. Because all of this just seems all too familiar.

Hopefully Milan can triumph over adversity and make that the familiar.

The Toxic Italian Media

The media are known to be hypercritical of performances, and definitely too quick to speculate as to which team will win a season or tournament based solely on a transfer or a singlular performance. However, as the income of journalists and their employers has relied more on clicks and views, the hyperbole with which they deliver their sporting opinions has reached more harmful levels. Words from pundits influence fans, who in turn abuse players and one another on social media and sometimes even in person. For some reason, though, the Italian media has become particularly dissonant, often producing critiques of players and teams that are completely out of touch with reality and actually the polar opposite of the rest of the footballing world. As if Serie A did not have enough problems, now they are being further harmed by the toxic Italian media.

Both victims of the toxic Italian media.

Genoa 0, Milan 1: Taking Matters Into Our Own Hands

There were 85 minutes of tense, physical football. Then Milan broke the deadlock with a goal from Pulisic. Another ten minutes, and then chaos rained down at the Marassi. In one of the most unbelievable stoppage times ever, both goalkeepers were sent off, and in some kind of Bizarro world scenario, our very own striker, Giroud played in goal for Milan. But he made a big save, salvaging all three points to see Milan win 1-0 over Genoa and go into the break at the top of the Serie A table. That's what I call taking matters into our own hands.

Our new goalkeeper, Mike Oli Giroud.

Genoa-Milan Preview: Living the Dream

After an unfulfilling trip to Germany in the Champions League midweek, Milan are on the road once again to face Genoa. This is apparently an "anomaly" in the Serie A calendar, we are the only team to play two away matches in three days. Lucky us. After winning promotion back to Serie A this season, former Milan and Genoa striker Gilardino has Il Grifone in 14th place coming into this match, but has produced some excellent results against big teams. Milan need to go into the international break on a win for mentality ahead of difficult fixtures, whereas a result against Milan could confirm Genoa's status as Serie A's giant killer this season. Genoa have no fear and just by virtue of playing in Serie A are living the dream.

Will these two get the start up front on Saturday?

Borussia Dortmund 0, AC Milan 0: Can't Buy A Goal

Milan come home from Germany empty-handed after a tense 0-0 draw with Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League. Granted, they have two clean sheets in their two matches thus far in the Group Stage, but they also have been unable to score against either Newcastle or now Dortmund. By virtue of not conceding, Milan are in third place in the group, with two points, but this is the Group of Death. Teams need to score and win to advance. Despite investing €134 million this summer, primarily in attacking players, it seems that Milan can't buy a goal.

Theo double checking that there are no goals in the back of that net...

Champions League Group Stage • Borussia Dortmund-AC Milan: Die Gelbe Wand

Wednesday marks day two in Milan's Champions League group stage run, which sees them travel to Germany to face Borussia Dortmund. Some clubs are known for their achievements on the pitch, such as Milan's seven Champions League trophies or 19 Scudetti. But Dortmund have only won a single Champions League trophy, and have only won either the German League/Bundesliga a combined eight times, although they have come in second eleven times. Such as last season, when they choked and lost the title on the final day of competition. No, Borussia Dortmund, or BVB, are most known for their very large curva in their Westfalenstadion, now called Signal Iduna Park. The massive 25,000 seat stand is known as Die Gelbe Wand, or "The Yellow Wall," named for both the size, slope, and team colors worn in Die Südtribüne. Opponents and even players and coaches often say they don't fear the players or match itself, what really frightens them is Die Gelbe Wand.

It's probably not going to be like that for him if he scores this time...

Milan 2, Lazio 0: Statement Win

Some wins are important, some feel good. This one was both. Milan came into this match in second place in Serie A, tied with Inter on points after six matches. But to hear the Italian media speak about Milan, Pioli, and especially Rafa Leão, you would think we were Mourinho's Roma or something. Then there is the upcoming difficult stretch of fixtures that sees us play Dortmund, an in-form Genoa, Juventus, PSG, and Napoli this month, with an International break in between. This 2-0 win over Lazio was so needed, and having the goals come from the new guys, with the assists both coming from Rafa Leão could not have been more perfect, either. This wasn't just another three points and a clean sheet to boost confidence. This was a statement win.

This statement may have been "Happy Birthday" to Giroud on his 37th birthday.

Milan-Lazio Preview: Preparing for Battle

Milan host Lazio at the San Siro on Saturday for the evening match. While Lazio come into this match in 12th place, they seem to have found their form just ahead of our clash. Without Milinković-Savić, whom Lotito finally sold this summer, Lazio have not been the same team that finished second in Serie A last season. However, they also did not make nearly as many changes as Milan, so this will absolutely not be a guaranteed win for the Rossoneri. After fighting back from a brutal Derby loss and even more brutal ravaging from the Italian media, this match is just the first in a series of difficult matches for Milan. Not just one battle, but an all-out war that will test this team with fire for the next month. For today, though, Pioli will be focused on Lazio, preparing for battle.

The troops are ready.

Cagliari 1, Milan 3: Viability

Milan traveled to Cagliari and came back with all three points. Despite conceding first, Milan capitalized on a goalkeeping error and then outscored the hosts 3-1 in a match that was still at times worrisome. Pioli rested two of his best players, and was missing four other starters due to injury. So, although this was just 19th place Cagliari, who are still looking for their first league win this season, having two more new players open their scoring for Milan was certainly positive. Particularly given the congested and difficult fixtures we have ahead of us, this match went a long way for the players to prove to themselves their viability.

Proving their viability.