The new Champions League format seems to have been received well. However on Wednesday, the League Phase ends with a footballing event of such epic proportions, it may destroy itself. All 36 teams will be playing simultaneously. 18 matches happening all at once, which kind of defeats the purpose of ads and ratings and such, when everyone's loyalties are split and they can really truly only watch one of the 18 matches instead of the usual four or so per week. And teams will be all in for the Round of 16, qualified for the playoffs, or out completely. Milan, for example will either be directly qualified or go to the playoffs, and Dinamo Zagreb are just fighting to avoid being knocked out. The entire competition will collapse on itself like a star, and all will finally be known after an explosive two hours of Champions League football. It's supernova time.
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| Milan's superstar is prepared to send us shooting into the Round of 16. |
Despite travelling to Croatia, Milan will face a somewhat familiar person on the bench. Dinamo are managed by 2006 World Cup winner and former Italian national team captain, Fabio Cannavaro. He is the third manager for the club this season, appointed in December, replacing Nenad Bjelica. Dinamo come into this match in 26th place on the Champions League table, so need to win this match and also have other results go their way just to make it to the playoffs. In the Croatian league, they are in third place, seven points from the top, but with a game in hand.
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| Cannavaro had nice things to say about Conceição, Milan, and Leão. |
Their most recent match was a 3-1 win over Istra at home on Saturday. For that match, Cannavaro lined up a 4-1-4-1 with: Nevistić; Ristovski, Mmaee. Torrente, Franjić; Mišić; Hoxha, Luka Stojkavić, Baturina, Pjaca; and Kulenović. As of this writing, it appears that from Cannavaro's Champions League squad, Petković, Sučić, and Kačavenda are likely to miss due to injury.
Conceição has his own injuries to worry about, as he will still be missing Florenzi, Thiaw, Loftus-Cheek, and Emerson Royal to injury from his Champions League squad. (Neither Jović nor Jiménez were included in the squad to begin with.) Bartesaghi was seen training with the team ahead of the match, following his solid performance in the second half of the Milan-Parma match on Sunday.
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| Conceição knows how to manage the pressure of the Champions League. |
The big miss, of course, is Calabria, who will be suspended after receiving a yellow card last week vs. Girona. That leaves us with essentially no full backs for this one, with Florenzi and Emerson Royal also out injured. Kyle Walker, of course, is also not yet eligible to play, having just transferred. However, if he is placed on the list for the Round of 16, he can be eligible going forward,, due to UEFA's rules regarding players who transfer midseason. Reports say that the two most plausible options for Wednesday are having Terrracciano play on the right, or having Tomori possibly play on the right. Conceição has also used more of a three man backline at times, too, so someone like Terracciano or Musah could play on the wing. I am sure he will figure out a solution to this crazy problem.
Both Pulisic and Conceição spoke to the press on Tuesday ahead of the match, making it clear that the goal is direct qualification to the Round of 16. Despite issues with injuries, potential transfers, and an insane fixture list, there is a new found sense of trust and belief at the club since Conceição arrived that had been missing all season before that. Everyone is working for the team, regardless of whether they are a superstar, a bench player, or even a young player. The trip to Zagreb will be very, very tough, especially without the Curva Sud... again. But having all the teams play simultaneously means that anything could happen, so ready or not, it's supernova time.
Serie C Week 25