AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli will once again have to contend with an injury crisis in the defensive department on Wednesday night when the team face Newcastle United, a report claims.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport (via PianetaMilan), Simon Kjaer – who has been out since October 25 with muscle discomfort that turned into a strain – is not yet ready to return and will therefore not be available for the trip to England.
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In terms of other options, Malick Thiaw is injured until the new year along with Marco Pellegrino and Pierre Kalulu. Jan-Carlo Simic is not in the squad list and does not qualify for List B eligibility, so the same defensive quartet should be fielded.
Davide Calabria, Fikayo Tomori, Theo Hernández and Alessandro Florenzi should be the back four from right to left, with only Davide Bartesaghi ready to lend a hand off the bench. Tommaso Pobega and Rade Krunić could be moved back from midfield in case of absolute emergency.
Speaking of midfielders, Ismaël Bennacer won’t be available for Newcastle-Milan either. The Algerian was not included in the UEFA squad list for the group stages because he wasn’t expected to recover.
