Without Theo Hernandez, how will Milan play against Juventus? Who will Pioli replace him with, having said goodbye to Fodé Ballo-Touré in the summer without bringing in a real alternative to the French left-back?
Last season, Theo Hernandez missed eight games, five due to injuries and suspensions and three for technical reasons or rotation. In six cases, he was replaced by Fodé Ballo-Touré, and in two by Sergino Dest, as pointed out by Tuttosport.
This season, the Frenchman has started 9 of the 10 games played by the Rossoneri, and missed only the home game against Verona on September 23 due to an injury sustained in training after the Champions League match against Newcastle.
Against the Veneto side, Pioli, who also had to do without Calabria and Kalulu on that occasion, lined up Milan in an unusual 3-4-3 formation to compensate for the absence of the full-backs. On the right side, Musah was deployed as wing-back who comes back to defend, while Alessandro Florenzi took over from Theo on the left.
The experienced Italian 'joker', who will train regularly at Milanello during the break, is therefore the most logical choice for the match against Juventus. Unless Pioli comes up with something new or decides to give 17-year-old Davide Bartesaghi his first start in the first team.
Bartesaghi has already been thrown into the fray in three late cameos this season (Verona, Cagliari and Genoa). Pioli has been known to make bold choices, but Bartesaghi, unlike Florenzi, will only be back at the Rossoneri training ground next week, as he has been called up to the Italy Under-19 team by Nicola Correnti, who will play two friendlies in Serbia against the hosts on October 11 and 14.
