AC Milan host Paris Saint-Germain tomorrow night, and Stefano Pioli has a bit of a tactical dilemma going into the game regarding the approach his side must take.
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La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) highlight how Milan really need a win if they are to keep their qualification hopes alive, and that raises questions about how the team will set about playing the game tomorrow.
Pioli must decide whether to defend deeper than in Paris to reduce the number of one-on-one situations allowed, particularly on the counter, after Luis Enrique’s side repeatedly exploited that in their 3-0 win last month.
On the other hand, the need to win is there and thus Pioli might well try to go with the style he has been implementing since the summer, with high aggression and one-on-ones welcomes.
Against Udinese, he chose to play two strikers and Luka Jovic left him stranded. Noah Okafor, who came on in the second half, did slightly better, but Pioli knows that he is under pressure to get the team and the tactics spot on tomorrow.
It’s easy to say that everything is going against him now like the 21 injuries in three and a half months, the attack that no longer scores goals, Tijjani Reijnders regressing, the summer signings unavailable or disappointing, the dependence on a declining Rafael Leao, the words of Davide Calabria and Olivier Giroud.
The question that matters, however, is another: is there a possibility of overturning the crisis? In January last season Milan collapsed, but their recovery was limited to Europe where they beat Tottenham and Napoli, while in the league finishing fourth (due to Juve’s points deduction) was a chore in the end.
