AC Milan have 5 games left to play in Serie A. Stefano Pioli wants to finish the season strongly. In his latest game outing with his squad, he saw his players get handed a very heavy loss in the Coppa Italia semi-final second leg fixture against the corss city bitter rivals Inter.
Now, it is time to turn the page. The past is done and the only way to forget about the defeats and setback is by winning. What better way to bounce back than starting this final season sprint with a victory against the Biancocelesti at the Olimpico stadium?
The News leading to the match:
The Rossoneri will be missing out on one of their top players in midfield. We are talking about Algerian central midfielder Ismael Bennacer.
As per Stefano Pioli in the press conference yesterday, the former Arsenal and Empoli man will not be available because he sprained his ankle in the last game against the Nerazzurri. He could not recover just in time. Therefore, it seems that the gaffer will have to rely on Sandro Tonali and Franck Kessié together in front of the defence while Brahim Diaz returns as a starter in the playmaker role.
Simon Kjaer, obviously, and Alessandro Florenzi remain out of the team sheet due to their injuries. The team, however, is happy to welcome two important players who are Ante Rebic and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Speaking of the Croatian left-winger, he suffers a chronic knee tendonitis. The gaffer, Pioli said the following words yesterday as he explained the nature of the injury which prohibited him from participating in match against Inter:
"Ante suffers from chronic knee tendonitis that occasionally wakes up. In the pre-game warm-up, he heard something. Fortunately, only two days of therapy were needed, he is ready to give everything like the others. Ante is doing well."
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has also recovered, enough to be on the bench, ready to enter to play some minutes towards the end perhaps if his teammates should need his help with finding a much desired goal. The starter,however, except for any surprises, should remain Olivier Giroud.
The red and black faithful have 71 points while their city rivals have 72 points after 33 games. The Nerazzurri have one game in hand which is set to play versus Bologna on April 27. The hope for the men of Stefano Pioli is to give their best in the remaining games and try to win all fixtures while Inter drops points.
Lazio (who are 6th in the Serie A league standings with 56 points) are coming back from a disappointing result. They drew 1-1 against Torino at home with the equaliser scored by Ciro Immobile in extra-time. Maurizio Sarri has admitted in his press conference yesterday that Milan will be a tough team to face despite their form and struggles in attack.
The likely formations of Lazio and Milan:
4-3-3: Strakosha; Lazzari, Luiz Felipe, Acerbi, Hysaj; Milinkovic-Savic, Lucas Leiva, Luis Alberto; Felipe Anderson, Immobile, Zaccagni
As for the Rossoneri, this is the possible formation that coach Pioli will use against the Biancocelesti:
