On Friday evening, Sergio Conceição carried out the dress rehearsal in view of the Coppa Italia final, although more generally, according to colleagues from Gazzetta dello Sport, the Portuguese coach would have actually started doing so from April 11 onwards, when for the first time he deployed Milan in a 3-4-3 formation on the pitch against Udinese, winning with a clear 0-4 result.
From that night on, Conceição found the right setup for his team, which responded on the field by winning 5 of the last 6 matches in all competitions, scoring 14 goals and conceding only 3. Of course, it must be said that on Friday in the league the comeback against Bologna was initiated and completed with the 4-2-3-1, but at this point, it is difficult to think that the Portuguese coach will change again, especially after the statements made in the post-match at San Siro ("The players believe in what we are doing at this moment").
Milan will rely on the return of a key player: Rafael Leao
Something compared to Friday's match will certainly change, also because Sergio Conceição will have Rafael Leao back at his disposal after his suspension, certainly not a minor return. The number 10, with his one-on-one situations, will force Bologna to work more carefully on that flank, "forcing" the holding midfielder (Ferguson) to almost always double up in order to avoid putting Lorenzo De Silvestri in difficulty.
This will consequently allow Reijnders and Theo Hernandez to make runs forward and provide alternative patterns of play, with the usual Strahinja Pavlovic there to cover for the Frenchman, giving him the possibility to be relieved from any kind of demanding defensive duties, so he can best express his offensive potential. In addition to Leao, for the Coppa Italia final there will also be the return of Youssouf Fofana, whose task will be to focus on his usual phase of regaining possession of the ball.
What about the defensive and attacking departments?
The defense is untouchable. Except for a few cases, since last April 11 Sergio Conceição has always relied on the three musketeers, Pavlovic, Gabbia and Tomori, something he will also do on Wednesday after recovering the Englishman from the knock he picked up on Friday.
The only real doubt concerns the attack: who to play between Luka Jovic and Santiago Gimenez?
The Serbian is declining compared to his recent outings, but no one knows how to link up the play like he does. The Mexican, on the other hand, is coming off 3 goals and 1 assist in his last 3 league matches, but this might not matter in the eyes of Conceição, who still has these two days to make the best decision for Milan.
