Out of nowhere AC Milan have found themselves with a goalkeeping crisis, and that means Antonio Mirante is in line for a start against Juventus.
Calciomercato.com writes that with Mike Maignan suspended and Marco Sportiello out for two months, it is now Mirante’s turn. The 40-year-old goalkeeper will get the nod posts in the big match of the ninth round against Juve.
Milan’s third-choice goalkeeper will make his first competitive start for the club having only made one appearance so far since joining, which came in the closing stages of the win over Hellas Verona to end last season.
Mirante has not played a game as a starter in Serie A since 18 April 2021, which was a 3-1 defeat for Roma against Torino. Mirante, seemed destined to leave Milan after the arrival of Sportiello but instead renewed in the summer for another year.
He was kept because he is useful for the squad lists and has experience in case of emergency, an emergency which has ended up happening.
Mirante has appeared in several friendly matches with Milan, but the last one was in December 2022 in a 3-0 loss against PSV Eindhoven. Raised in Juve’s youth sector , he also played for Crotone, Siena (who gave him his debut in Serie A), Juve, Sampdoria, Parma, Bologna and Roma.
Our defence needs to be the one working double time tomorrow. If we can limit Juve’s attacks, Mirante will be fine. Its once we allow them to beat us in headers, or allow them for open shots where Mirante might struggle. Worried also regarding our ability to score goals. Doubt we’ll be able to put more than 2 goals past juve so if they do score we need to make sure its not many. Cant really see us winning 3-2 or 4-3…
I was going to watch this game with my feet up smoking a cigar. Now I’ll be peeking out from behind the couch.
What a shame. Sportiello barely played and got the injury from nowhere. Its understandable if your primary GK who also played for the national team get injured. But a backup GK who barely played, its nonsense