It could have been the opportunity to test the partnership: Pulisic and Saelemaekers as the new duo supporting the centre-forward. Those trials have been postponed: Saelemaekers suffered a sprain injury to his right ankle that required immediate specific examinations.
The outcome is reassuring, but Alexis’s return to the pitch has been postponed to a date yet to be determined. As for the tests, the instrumental examinations carried out yesterday afternoon ruled out bone injuries and capsuloligamentous damage. His recovery will be assessed day by day. The absence of any lesions is the good news; the day-by-day assessments make the player’s presence when the league resumes difficult, though certainly not impossible.
This would therefore delay the return of the first-choice Milan side seen against Lecce, a formation in which Pulisic and Saelemaekers operated in the attacking-midfield line. In the starting eleven envisaged during the summer, they seemed destined to have guaranteed places, positions that they have instead had to earn with difficulty over the course of the first six matches of the season. For Saelemaekers, the obstacles are not over: there will not even be a race to get him back as quickly as possible, because once competitive action resumes, Milan will face a series of matches in quick succession. It is therefore better to have the players back at full fitness in order to avoid further risks, as relayed via 'La Gazzetta dello Sport' in this morning's print edition.
Fixtures
In October alone, the Rossoneri will face, in order, Sassuolo, Salzburg, Atalanta, Bournemouth, Udinese, Bologna and Inter. The internal battle between Moreira and Cisse goes beyond the reward of playing in the next match: whoever comes out on top could immediately carve out a place for himself and perhaps even take on a leading role in the future. Both have already done so, only to end up among the supporting cast again. Cisse was the revelation at the start of the season, scoring Milan’s first goal of the campaign against Torino and then finding the net again away to Juventus. The key moment came in the trip to Rome to face Lazio: Cisse started but produced neither a goal nor any notable attacking spark, while Moreira came on and scored twice to rescue the result. Against Lecce, the following match, Cisse then remained on the bench for the full ninety minutes. Moreira, by contrast, made the most of the final twenty-one minutes he was given by scoring another goal, his third, making the former Strasbourg winger Milan’s top scorer.
In contention
Today they start again on equal terms, without even either of them having a timing advantage: both are away on international duty. Cisse is with Italy’s Under-21 side, who are due to face Armenia and Poland in qualification for the next European Under-21 Championship. Moreira will miss Belgium-Turkey through suspension before becoming available again against France, featuring Rabiot and Maignan. Both are due to play on Monday, 5 October, before returning to Milanello the following day.
Cisse does, however, have the advantage in terms of position: the left side of the attacking midfield naturally suits him; Moreira, meanwhile, has the advantage of momentum and goals, even though he would be used in an area of the pitch that is less natural for him. Whoever wins the battle in the short term could establish himself as a new first-choice starter for the future.
