With the summer friendlies now over, Milan are set for their first official match of the season: on Sunday evening, Bari will visit San Siro for the Coppa Italia Round of 64.
There is great curiosity to see the first starting eleven chosen by Massimiliano Allegri, who, it should be remembered, will not be on the bench as he must serve a suspension handed down two years ago when he was still Juventus manager.
A three-man defence for Milan
As La Gazzetta dello Sport explained this morning, the coach from Livorno used both the 4-3-3 and the 3-5-2 formations during the summer tests, but against Bari he is likely to opt for the latter once again. In defence, with Koni De Winter only just joining the squad, the options are virtually set, meaning that in front of Mike Maignan the starting trio will be Fikayo Tomori, Matteo Gabbia, and Strahinja Pavlovic. Alongside the Belgian, another newcomer, Zachary Athekame, is also expected to be on the bench for the first time after his official announcement, which should come today.
The midfield and attack
Milan fans at San Siro will have their eyes especially on two new signings, Luka Modric and Ardon Jashari, though neither is expected to start: the Croatian, who only joined the group in early August, has around half an hour of match fitness in his legs, while the Swiss midfielder is likely to make way for Ruben Loftus-Cheek in the starting lineup. The Englishman will be joined in midfield by Youssouf Fofana and Samuele Ricci, who will be deployed just ahead of the defence. The good news in recent days is the recovery of Christian Pulisic, who has overcome the ankle issue picked up during the pre-season tour: the American will start alongside Rafael Leao.
