AC Milan have become accustomed to a particular sight both in training and in games: a player who is running and suddenly stops by placing his hand on the back of his thigh.
La Gazzetta dello Sport recalls that after Rafael Leao and Noah Okafor – both of whom were big misses against Dortmund last night – Malick Thiaw was the latest to go down with a hamstring injury and it is the worst possible news.
Pierre Kalulu will be out for around three months, Simon Kjaer is out with what seems to be a continuous battle against muscle fatigue, Marco Pellegrino ended up in the treatment room after less than a full game and Mattia Caldara is out too.
Realistically using the latter was not contemplated in terms of the sporting project at the beginning of the season, but in the midst of an emergency he could certainly have been useful, and yet he too is battling another injury.
In short, only Thiaw and Fikayo Tomori were fit centre-back options and thus the staff were praying that none of them would even catch a cold. However, Thiaw came off last night and now his 2023 is expected to be over.
With the latest issue Milan have racked up 25 injuries for the season the vast majority of them are muscular (18). It is a topic that the club are analysing very seriously in this period, also because in practical terms it costs points.
Adding up the matches which players have missed (including Champions League matches) we arrive at to the gigantic number of 89 games missed in just three months of the season. Something for which the coach is considered primarily responsible, as per the area of competence for all coaches.
Now, in the meantime, we need to understand how Pioli intends to approach the next matches. Last night it was Rade Krunic who filled in for Thiaw, and it is possible that the Bosnian all-rounder will be asked to make the sacrifice of continuing to adapt out of role.
Another option could lead to Davide Calabria, with Alessandro Florenzi or Yunus Musah as the right-back. Pioli called up the 18-year-old Jan-Carlo Simic recently, who joined the first team during the American summer tour, but he is only eligible to play in Serie A. Whichever way you look at things, the situation is bleak.