Despite Spezia not having a very long history in Serie A, their meeting with AC Milan on Saturday will still be full of interesting sub-plots.
La Gazzetta dello Sport begin by talking about a Spezia player that Paolo Maldini and Ricky Massara are keen on in Jakub Kiwior, a Poland international who is also wanted by other top Serie A clubs. He is 1.9m tall, solid technically and good in the marking phase, and he is growing under head coach Luca Gotti.
Speaking of Gotti, Pioli might also remember him too. In 2008, in Serie B, he faced him for the first time in a game between Treviso and Piacenza, and that day Gotti won 3-2.
On Saturday, Mattia Caldara will return to San Siro, given that he is on loan to Spezia from Milan after a positive year with Venezia, finally a starter again after years of ordeal due to injuries. The former Atalanta man, however, has only played 7 games so far and Kiwior is expected to start.
Spezia also have Daniel Maldini, who was sent on loan by the Rossoneri to have some playing time. It was against the Ligurians that he scored his first senior goal, and after scoring his debut goal for Spezia in the cup, the playmaker has been due to an injury and then resumed playing as a substitute (3 appearances, 71 minutes).
Another point of intersection concerns Tommaso Pobega, who was at Spezia in 2020-21 for a first season in Serie A after the loans to Ternana and Pordenone. He had 20 appearances and 6 goals, leaving an excellent impression before going to Torino, and now he will face them as a Milan player for the first time.
