AC Milan will continue their conquest of another trophy on Wednesday night when they take on Roma at San Siro in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals.
Milan are coming into the game off the back of a rollercoaster last 48 hours, beginning with the derby draw against Inter and continuing with what might have been the most hectic deadline day in several years.
Sergio Conceicao’s first bit of silverware with the club came via a domestic cup competition and he would no doubt like to make lifting trophies a more regular thing, but a tough game awaits against a resurgent Roma.
Game date: Wednesday, February 4
Kick-off time: 21:00 (CET)
Venue: San Siro
Referee: Marco Piccinini (VAR: Fabbri)
Team news
As mentioned, the final part of the window in particular was chaotic, with Joao Felix, Warren Bondo and Riccardo Sottil all arriving. Not only that, but Noah Okafor, Ismael Bennacer and Kevin Zeroli departed the club, making it one of the most active deadline days in a while.
A lot has changed within the squad as a result, from the players who might now take a spot in the starting line-up to the system itself. Conceicao made it clear he wanted the late arrivals at Milanello on Tuesday afternoon, so they can be ready to play against Roma.
Milan come into the game having suffered derby heartbreak on Sunday night, too. The Rossoneri led until the 93rd minute after Tijjani Reijnders’ opener, but Stefan De Vrij fired in a last-gasp equaliser to earn the Nerazzurri a draw they probably deserved overall.
In terms of injury news, the three absentees that remain from the last game are Alessandro Florenzi, Emerson Royal (both out for a while longer after severe muscle injuries) and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
The big question mark concerns how much of a role some of the winter additions will play, like Santiago Gimenez who could lead the line, Kyle Walker who impressed vs. Inter and Joao Felix too.
Reports have suggested that Conceicao will play a near full-strength team for the Coppa Italia clash, and it seems this will be the case.
Mike Maignan will start in goal expectedly, with Kyle Walker, Fikayo Tomori, Strahijna Pavlovic and Theo Hernandez making up the back four. Matteo Gabbia is ill, so he will likely not make the starting XI if he makes the game at all.
In midfield, Youssouf Fofana will come into the midfield for Ismael Bennacer, who departed after a bust-up at the weekend, whilst Yunus Musah retains his spot in the double pivot once again. Then, ahead of the duo, Tijjani Reijnders will operate.
Christian Pulisic will be chosen on the right, with Rafael Leao on the left, and they will be supporting Tammy Abraham once again.

There have been suggestions that Santiago Gimenez, Joao Felix and Riccardo Sottil can all feature in some capacity tomorrow evening too.
Probable Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Walker, Tomori, Pavlovic, Theo; Fofana, Musah; Pulisic, Reijnders, Leao; Abraham
The opponents
During our preview of the league game at San Siro at the end of December, we spoke to Samuel Bannister about what had to that point already been a chaotic campaign for Roma.
What adds a touch of irony is that the Milan 1-1 Roma fixture around five weeks back ended up being Paulo Fonseca’s last game in charge. He went into the game under a cloud with reports he was going to be sacked regardless, and indeed he was dismissed after failing to beat his former club.
Since Claudio Ranieri’s arrival in the middle of November, Roma have certainly picked up from being a bottom-half team to now being four points behind the Rossoneri (who have a game in hand, against Bologna).
Ranieri and Roma have an unbreakable bond that was always likely to get a resurgence from them, and they have lost just one of their last nine games in the league, including a derby win over Lazio too.
They also managed to secure a finish in mid-table in the UEFA Europa League after winning three, drawing three and losing too, with Conceicao’s former side Porto awaiting in the play-off round.
According to Sportsmole, Roma did have worries about Manu Kone and ex-Milan man Stephan El Shaarawy after both sustained problems in the 1-1 draw with Napoli at the weekend. However, they are fine and fit to start.
Suspended centre-back Gianluca Mancini will miss out on the game, which is good news given that he has a knack of scoring against the Diavolo, with Mats Hummels likely to return and take his spot.
Ranieri seems to have changed his system slightly against Napoli, and by all accounts, he should do the same against Milan it seems – staying with a back four.
Svilar, who has been phenomenal for the Giallorossi recently, starts between the sticks, with Rensch, Hummels, Ndicka and Angelino in front of him. The aforementioned Mancini would probably make a back three more likely though, it must be said.
A midfield three of Kone, Rossoneri-linked Cristante and Pisilli is also expected for the clash, with the January signing of Gourna-Douath likely not able to play.
Leading the line, Ranieri is expected to continue with Soule and El Shaarawy on the wings, though Artem Dovbyk, who was linked to Milan in the summer, should return in the place of Shomurodov.
Predicted Roma XI (3-4-2-1): Svilar; Celik, Hummels, Ndicka; Saelemaekers, Kone, Paredes, Angelino; Dybala, Pellegrini, Dovbyk.

Head to head
There are only two teams Milan have played more in their 125-year history than Roma, which are Juventus and Inter. There have been 200 meetings with a record of 84 wins, 63 draws and 53 defeats, and a +57 goal difference.
Milan did the league double over the Giallorossi last season, winning 2-1 away (goals from Giroud and Leao) and 3-1 at home (Adli, Giroud and Theo scoring). However, Roma got some revenge by winning in the Europa League quarter-final, 3-1 on aggregate.
Prior to that Milan had gone nine games unbeaten against the team from the capital, and had only lost once away against them since 2016, a streak they will be looking to restart now.
Key facts and stats
➤ Roma won their most recent Coppa Italia clash against Milan in January 2007, after the Rossoneri had remained unbeaten in their previous six matches (W4 D2).
➤ After two consecutive eliminations against Roma in the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia (in 1980 and 1984), Milan progressed in the most recent clash with the Giallorossi at this stage of the tournament, when they won both the first leg and the second leg 2-1 during the 2003/04 edition.
➤ In their last four participations in the quarterfinals of the Coppa Italia, all with Stefano Pioli on the bench, Milan have alternated between progressing to the next round and being eliminated after having reached the semi-finals three times in the previous four.
➤ Roma have lost each of their last five quarter-final matches in the Coppa Italia; at this stage of the competition only Roma themselves have lost more consecutive matches (six) between 1998 and 2002 – five each for Empoli and Padova.
➤ Milan have lost three of their last five Coppa Italia matches (W2), as many defeats as in their previous 18 games in the competition combined (W8 D7).
➤ After Juventus (36) and Inter (29), Milan (24) and Roma (22) are the two teams to have reached the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia the most times in the history of the competition – however, the Giallorossi have not progressed past the quarterfinals since the 2016/17 season (2-1 against Cesena).
➤ Milan faced just four shots in total during the Round of 16 of this Coppa Italia season, fewer than any other team.
➤ Among Roma coaches with more than two matches in the Coppa Italia, Claudio Ranieri holds the highest percentage of successes with the Giallorossi: 75%, the result of six victories out of eight total matches.
➤ Samuel Chukwueze scored a brace in the Round of 16 against Sassuolo; the last AC Milan player with at least three goals in a Coppa Italia edition was Olivier Giroud in 2021/22, while in the last 20 years no Rossoneri player has collected more than one multiple goals in a season of the competition (in fact, in that period no one has reached four goals).
➤ Paulo Dybala has scored 10 goals against Milan, only against three teams has he netted more against since he’s been in Italy (14 against Udinese, 11 against both Lazio and Genoa). The Rossoneri are the only team however against which he has scored in three different competitions: eight goals in Serie A, one in the Europa League and one in the Coppa Italia.
Ones to watch
Starting with the visitors, Matias Soule could have a huge impact on the game if he is allowed to. So far in Rome, he has struggled to find his form after last season’s displays, but the talent is still there, and he may only need one chance to punish the Rossoneri.
Dovbyk is another player who needs no introduction. After links to the Ukrainian in the summer, there needs to be extra caution about his qualities and with him growing into Italian football a little more, he poses a real threat.

For Milan, Tijjani Reijnders is in need of a good game. But he scored in the Derby? It is arguable that the Dutchman is much better in a deeper position, and he shows more in that role than he does in a more advanced position. If he is to continue in the role after the arrival of Joao Felix, a good performance against Roma is needed.
Yunus Musah also needs to show a good game we feel. After Zagreb, many were, understandably, very critical of the American, so he has to improve moving forward. With Warren Bondo joining, his position in the team could be lessened significantly, so he needs to use his minutes well.
Prediction
Neither team is allowing either to have an ‘easier’ game and will both name a near full-strength side. However, we think that the Rossoneri may just pip the Giallorossi. Conceicao’s focus is on the competition and falling at this hurdle would have significant issues for the season you feel.
Milan 2-0 Roma
As long as dybala is not starting, we are good to go
Mr. Ghost forget about that, either Dybala or not Milan is going to qualify from Roma because the coach called conceicao is ready to make sure that he gets into top four in the league and win the Coppa Italia trophy 🏆 for AC Milan.
Throw the new kids into the fire. I guess least risky move is to put Santi on. CF, target man, not a whole lot of link-up needed, cant do worse than Tammy.
The other guys (felix, Bondo etc) are riskier in my opinion. They havent trained with the team yet, and those positions require more linkup and understanding.
With all the games we’ve got coming up, IMO it’s a pity not to see a bit more resting and rotation in this one, even if it costs us the game. We’ve got bigger fish to fry with the Feyenoord games and the Bologna game in hand to play.
IMO, give Jovic, Chukwueze, Jimenez, Terracciano, Vos, Bartesaghi and a backup goalkeeper some minutes and let Fofana and Reijnders have a chance to have a proper rest, because we’re going to need that pair so much for the next couple of months.
It’s going to be very very tricky going forward. I think we have 8 fixtures in February and we’re going for all of them (UCL, league, Super Coppa). We have players already fatigued (Tijji, Fofana, Puli). It’s going to be a big balancing act. Hopefully no one gets injured.
I guess they see the Coppa final as the only way back to the super cup money…
Yeah I think they want to collect the lesser trophies to offset the broader disappointment as well