It is derby day as AC Milan host their bitter Serie A rivals Inter in the first leg of Coppa Italia's semi-final at the San Siro. The Rossoneri will take on the Nerazzurri at 9:00PM CET.
The two Milanese clubs met on February 5th in the Serie A as the Rossoneri came out the winners with 3 important points snatched thanks to a beautiful brace by Olivier Giroud. Tonight, however, it is a completely different context. For derbies, previous encounters can serve as a lesson, obviously, but there is a lot to do with the mental aspect, preparation and being ready for any scenario that may unfold on the pitch.
Tonight, AC Milan boss Stefano Pioli will be missing the services of Sandro Tonali in midfield due to his yellow card against Lazio in the latest Coppa Italia game. Instead, the midfield is likely to look like the following: Franck Kessié and Ismael Bennacer in front of the defence. As for the attacking midfield, it seems that Rade Krunic may get the nod to play ahead of Brahim Diaz who is not really having his best moments currently. On the right, Alexis Saelemaekers could start instead of Brazilian 30-year-old Junior Messias.
The centre-back pairing of Fikayo Tomori and Alessio Romagnoli is set to continue. Both of them will have a difficult task which is to limit the attacking threat posed by Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez who would be supported by former Rossonero Hakan Calhanoglu.
Theo Hernandez will also have to be extra attentive as he must focus defensively to stop wing-back Denzel Dumfries who likes to go forward often to deliver crosses or receive them from the other side. But, the Frenchman must also recognise the best timing for his sprints forward in order to help the attack to find pockets of spaces in dangerous scoring positions and opportunities. Davide Calabria is set for another important test as Ivan Perisic would be looking to challenge him in one on one situations. The AC Milan Primavera product will have to rely on the support from right-winger Alexis Saelemaekers who must come back to defend.
The defensive phase will be very important as Mike Maignan must keep a clean sheet. The Rossoneri are hosting the match, therefore, conceding an away goal will give a great boost to Inter, which should be avoided at all costs.
In the attack, Rafael Leao will work hard to be able to cut inside the penalty area and try to beat the goalkeeper himself. He can also ask for through balls by finding some space for himself that can be created by Olivier Giroud. The two forwards have promising potential to create chaos and danger in the penalty box of Samir Handanovic and his teammates tonight.
Simone Inzaghi, in yesterday's press conference, reiterated that scoring an away goal is very important. Here are his words: "Of course it would be very important to score an away goal (vs AC Milan). We have to play match by match trying to recover physical and mental energies without thinking about what will be after the match, this is the only way for me to reach the objectives."
The former Lazio boss would be aiming for the win and he will use his usual 3-5-2 formation module. Here are his likely choices:
3-5-2: Handanovic; Skriniar, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Calanhoglu, Perisic; Lautaro, Dzeko
AC Milan's likely lineup revealed:
As for the hosts, coached by Stefano Pioli, they will also be looking to be strong defensively and calm on the ball when it's time to create important scoring opportunities. Below, you'll find the predicted formation of Il Diavolo.
