Red Star tonight, Girona on January 22, and Dinamo Zagreb on January 29: these are AC Milan’s final three commitments in the Champions League group stage, and the Rossoneri have a rather "simple" objective, win all three matches and secure a spot in the top eight of the standings. Doing so would allow them to advance directly to the Round of 16 without having to go through the playoffs. It’s doable.
Is it the first step for Fonseca and Milan?
This morning, Corriere della Sera reported that Paulo Fonseca’s team must immediately put behind them the recent league defeat away to Atalanta and focus on tonight’s clash at San Siro against Red Star, an opponent well within Milan's reach but not to be underestimated.
This game is the first step toward securing a top-eight finish in the standings.
Speaking in yesterday’s press conference, the Portuguese coach said:
"Top-eight in the Champions League? I think the most important thing is to win the next game, but I can't say we aren’t thinking about that possibility. If we don't win the next match, it will be difficult. Let's focus on the next one, and then we'll think about the others."
Loftus-Cheek will start for Milan.
Against the Serbian side, in addition to the usual absentees, Ismael Bennacer, Alessandro Florenzi, and Luka Jovic, Noah Okafor (due to sciatica) and, most notably, Christian Pulisic will also be unavailable.
One of the main questions in recent days was who would replace the American in the attacking midfield role, and the answer came during the press conference: Fonseca announced that Ruben Loftus-Cheek will play as the attacking midfielder behind Álvaro Morata.
As for the rest of the lineup, it will mostly feature the usual starters, with just one change in defence: Davide Calabria starting at right-back in place of Emerson Royal.
