AC Milan will try and make it to the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia today as they take on Atalanta at San Siro, knowing that Fiorentina are waiting in the next round.
Milan know that the Coppa Italia is there best chance to win a trophy this season given Inter and Juventus appear superior in Serie A and the Europa League can never be banked upon.
It seems that Stefano Pioli will be shifting to a 3-4-3 formation this evening, matching Atalanta up directly. Luka Jovic should be starting as the striker again, whilst Alex Jimenez is expected to start as well. You can read the full preview here, while below are the best stats ahead of the game…
The stats
➤ After remaining unbeaten in the first seven matches of the Coppa Italia, with five wins and two draws in that run, Milan have lost two of the last four matches (2W) played against Atalanta in the competition, including the most recent, in the match of second leg of the quarter-finals of the 2000-01 edition (the Rossoneri still went through, thanks to an aggregate score of 5-4).
➤ Atalanta have never won in the five Coppa Italia matches played away against Milan: four defeats, including the last two, and a draw in that period, without ever managing to keep a clean sheet (11 goals conceded in total, for an average of 2.2 per match).
➤ Milan have won their last two Serie A home matches against Atalanta without conceding a goal, after the Rossoneri had failed to win the win at the Meazza in any of the previous seven (D4, L3), with five different coaches (Stefano Pioli, Gennaro Gattuso, Vincenzo Montella, Sinisa Mihajlovic and Filippo Inzaghi).
➤ Milan have won all of their last four matches played in all competitions at the San Siro (three in Serie A and one in the cup); the last time in which the Rossoneri achieved more consecutive home wins, again considering all competitions, dates back to the period between April and September 2022 (seven in that case, one of these against the Bergamo team).
➤ Atalanta have never repeated the same result in their last nine away matches in all competitions (3W, 3D, 3L), but they have only found success in one of their last five matches played away from home (against Raków Czestochowa in the Europa League).
➤ Milan have reached the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia in four of their last five participations at this stage (the exception being their elimination at the hands of Inter in the 2020-21 season), after having been eliminated at this stage of the competition in four of five previous editions.
➤ Atalanta have alternated a victory (4) with a defeat (3) in each of the last seven Coppa Italia matches; the Bergamo side have been eliminated in seven of the last 10 times in which they have reached the quarter-finals of the competition, including the two most recent: 2-3 defeat at home against Fiorentina in 2021-22 and 1-0 defeat against Inter in 2022-23.
➤ On the one hand, Milan (41) are the team that have carried out the most direct attacks in the current Serie A season, but on the other hand only Inter (7) have scored more goals following an attacking recovery than Atalanta (five).
