A shoulder for Leao. If the Portuguese is Milan’s main certainty for Sunday’s match against Fiorentina, Allegri will wait for the final training sessions before making a definitive decision on his attacking partner. It’s natural, since Santiago Gimenez (who returned to Milan from Mexico yesterday) will train with the full group only today, while Christopher Nkunku came back from duty with France not in top condition.
With the midfield stripped down by the injuries to Rabiot and Jashari, and without Pulisic in attack, the name of who will play alongside Leao will emerge, unless there are surprises, always possible with Max, from the duel between the Mexican and the Frenchman, with young Balentien on the bench.
Santi Gimenez didn’t score with his national team but, although still searching for his first goal in Serie A, he has always started under Allegri in the league. The former Feyenoord striker is the only pure center-forward in the squad, and in the early matches he worked hard in a hidden but useful role for the team. In the last game before the break, against Juventus, he showed encouraging signs, coming close to scoring a couple of times and winning the penalty that Pulisic missed. The doubt around Santi concerns his recovery from the long trip overseas, even though after the first international break he did start against Bologna. Still, it shouldn’t be forgotten that Milan will play four matches in two weeks, and Max will want to avoid any risk.
What about Nkunku?
Between Milan and the national team, the former Chelsea man has always scored when starting: a goal against Lecce in the Coppa Italia and a brace with France in Iceland on Monday night. It’s a different story when Christopher comes off the bench: in his last two appearances for Milan, against Udinese and Juventus, he failed to make an impact. The match at the Stadium is, so far, the only one in which Nkunku played together with Leao: 17 minutes plus stoppage time, although the two struggled to find an understanding, as pointed out by those at La Gazzetta dello Sport in this morning's print edition.
In the pairing game, when all four forwards are available, Leao is seen as a "number nine", same as Gimenez. Therefore, he should be paired with a second striker: Pulisic or Nkunku. Naturally, without 'Captain America', the Frenchman becomes the obvious alternative. But in an emergency situation, will Allegri follow the same logic, or surprise everyone?
