Tomorrow evening, Milan will take the field at Feyenoord’s home ground for the first leg of the Champions League playoffs.
The Rossoneri squad approaches this crucial fixture with several absences: suspended Musah, injured Emerson Royal, Florenzi, and Loftus-Cheek, as well as those not included in the UEFA list—Jimenez, Sottil, Bondo, and Jovic, will all be unavailable. So, what kind of Milan will we see in Rotterdam?
What is Sergio Conceicao tempted to do?
As reported this morning by La Gazzetta dello Sport, ever since the away match against Empoli in Serie A, there has been increasing talk of the possibility of fielding four attackers from the start—Christian Pulisic, Joao Felix, Santiago Gimenez, and Rafael Leao.
In Tuscany, their introduction in the second half proved decisive in securing the three points. Sergio Conceição is tempted to start them together, though the match in Rotterdam will be a completely different challenge: against Empoli, Milan simply couldn’t afford to drop points, whereas in the Netherlands, this is only the "first half" of the tie, with the return leg at San Siro scheduled for next week.
To support such an attacking lineup, collective sacrifice is required, especially from the four Milan forwards, who must contribute significantly when out of possession.
Conceição is seriously considering this approach, as securing qualification in the first leg could allow the Rossoneri team to better manage their energy at home, given the team’s packed schedule (playing every three days).
The alternative to the "Fantastic Four" would be inserting Filippo Terracciano in place of one of them, with Leao and Felix being the likeliest candidates to make way.
