AC Milan are looking to book their place in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals, but it will not be an easy mission against a fired-up Lazio.
With no European football for Milan this season, the Coppa Italia has to be one of the targets for Milan. It is a trophy they haven’t won for over 20 years, and by contrast Lazio have won it four times since the 2002-03 campaign when the Rossoneri last won it.
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Not only that, but the feeling of revenge is in the air. The Biancocelesti want to get their own back after they feel they were robbed of a late penalty in the league meeting on Saturday, while Milan want to banish the memories of a painful defeat in the final against Bologna in May.
Lazio vs. AC Milan: Five key battles
We picked out five key duels a few days ago ahead of the game at San Siro, so this time we will try do things a bit differently. We start with a battle that we don’t usually pick out, and that is Milan against a hostile home atmosphere.
As a reminder, Lazio’s ultras said on Wednesday: “After everything that’s happened, you already know what to do. If you want to reach the quarter-finals, you’ll go there with your eardrums destroyed. The Lazio fans will take care of Lazio. Welcome to hell.”
Milan therefore must be smart and take the sting out of the game. It will be a fiery environment from the first whistle, but a good start and not inviting pressure (especially not conceding early) would help to dampen them down a bit.
The, there is the contest between the two coaches Maurizio Sarri and Massimiliano Allegri. Allegri will be able to take his place in the dugout as the red card he got on Saturday only applies in the league. As was highlighted before the league meeting, it is two coaches born in Tuscany with very different ideas on how to play football.
There are only two managers that Allegri has faced more in his career: Gian Piero Gasperini and Stefano Pioli. The record is very favourable for Max, as he has won 12 of those games, drawing 4 and losing 4. He has also won two of the three Coppa Italia meetings, all with Juventus.
Moving to the players, there will be a very interesting contest between Ardon Jashari and Matias Vecino. Both are expected to play in the Regista role, and the big story is without a doubt the return of Jashari after a long period out following a leg fracture sustained during training.
A bit of rust is perhaps to be expected, while asking him to fill Luka Modric’s position is not an easy task. However, he will have help from Adrien Rabiot and Samuele Ricci. Vecino will again play in a deeper role due to injuries to Cataldi and Rovella, whereas he would normally be used in more of a box-to-box role given his propensity to get forward.
The danger man for Lazio this season has undoubtedly been Valentin Castellanos. He has two goals and three assists in just five league starts (457 minutes in total) and he is tipped to play in the middle of a front three tonight, having come back from a lengthy injury issue.
A stern test awaits for Koni De Winter therefore, one of Milan’s summer signings who has so far had to make do with the odd start. He has usually replaced Fikayo Tomori so the central centre-back role is somewhat new to him, but it is certainly a chance to prove that he can be relied upon more regularly.
Finally, we end with a battle at the other end between Alessio Romagnoli and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Romagnoli is someone who needs no introduction to Milan fans given his past at the club as a captain, and it was his blocked shot that ignited the carnage on Saturday night, after a decent performance from the centre-back.
Tonight, it feels as though Loftus-Cheek has a crucial double role. Firstly he must be a disruptor while Lazio are trying to build out from the back, and secondly he must help the Rossoneri establish a presence in the attacking third. With his size, the Englishman can be the target man that Allegri apparently craves, and he can draw defenders to give Rafael Leao more space.
Forzamilan,
we’re winning