After the risky but fruitful experiment of the newly renamed and revamped "4-2 fantasia" reminiscent of Leonardo’s Milan in the victory against Empoli, Sergio Conceição is seriously tempted to deploy Christian Pulisic, Rafael Leão, Santiago Giménez, and João Félix all together once again in Rotterdam against Feyenoord in the first leg of the Champions League playoff. Or perhaps, it would be more accurate to say that the Milan coach doesn’t have many alternatives, given suspensions, injuries, and various absences that limit his options.
In the Netherlands, Conceição will have to do without Yunus Musah, who has become indispensable since the Portuguese coach replaced Paulo Fonseca but is now suspended after his avoidable second yellow card in Zagreb.
Additionally, injured players Emerson Royal, Alessandro Florenzi, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek will be unavailable, along with Alex Jiménez, Luka Jović, and the recent signings Warren Bondo and Riccardo Sottil, who could not be registered for the UEFA list for the Champions League knockout rounds. These absences deprive Milan of the players who could have allowed a more balanced and less daring version of the 4-4-2 system, which Conceição has been seriously working on following Milan's bold and revolutionary January transfer campaign.
Among the players traveling to Rotterdam, only two could allow the Milan coach to avoid fielding an excessively offensive lineup from the start, with all four attacking stars playing together. These two are Samuel Chukwueze and Filippo Terracciano.
Chukwueze could play wide on the right instead of Pulisic, with the American shifting to the playmaker role in place of João Félix, or alternatively moving to the left (which would mean a third consecutive benching for Leão) while keeping the former Chelsea man in the starting XI to support Giménez in a possible return to the 4-2-3-1.
If Conceição, however, sticks with the 4-4-2, Chukwueze—who scored a crucial stoppage-time goal in the 3-2 comeback against Parma but was ineffective, if not outright detrimental, in the following matches against Dinamo Zagreb and Inter (where he lost track of Zalewski, who assisted De Vrij’s equalizer)—may not be the preferred choice, especially since he was completely left out of the Roma and Empoli games.
What's the other alternative for Conceicao's Milan?
The other option, though not highly favored at the moment, is Filippo Terracciano, who has played only 96 minutes across six substitute appearances since Conceição took over.
Necessity and logic suggest a 4-4-2 with all four attackers together, despite the challenge of maintaining balance in defensive transitions. But tactically, would this be the best approach against a team like Feyenoord, which has proven formidable at the daunting "De Kuip" stadium, where they recently stunned Bayern Munich with a 3-0 victory in the Champions League, featuring a brace from former Milan target Santiago Giménez?
Feyenoord’s home record across all competitions stands at eight wins, two draws, and four losses, with 29 goals scored and 20 conceded. In their last two home games, against Bayern and in the league derby against Sparta, they kept clean sheets. However, against strong opponents like Ajax and Bayer Leverkusen, they suffered heavy defeats (0-2 and 0-4), and even against Sparta Prague and Salzburg in European competition, their defense has looked vulnerable, conceding a total of five goals.
There’s an old saying that the best form of defense is attack, and for Milan, alternative options seem scarce this time.
Source: Calciomercato.com
