AC Milan will hope to do as they did against Stade Rennais by getting the bulk of the work done in the first leg of their Europa League last 16 tie against Slavia Praha.
Head coach Stefano Pioli’s fate could well rest on how far his side get in the Europa League and he seems to recognise this, as La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) report that he will pick a strong side against the side from the Czech capital.
According to the paper, there will be only one change from the side that won against Lazio and it will see Malick Thiaw return to the defensive line alongside Matteo Gabbia. Alessandro Florenzi and Theo Hernandez will be the full-backs, completing the four in front of Mike Maignan.
Yacine Adli and Ismael Bennacer are expected to keep their starting spot despite competition from Tijjani Reijnders and Yunus Musah who are vying to try earn a spot. Reijnders energised Milan against Lazio, but the Franco-Algerian pairing guarantee more balance in the eyes of Pioli, at least from the start.
They also cover the runs of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who will act in the attacking midfielder position behind the centre-forward Olivier Giroud, with Christian Pulisic wide on the right and Rafael Leao out on the left.
Probable Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Florenzi, Thiaw, Gabbia, Theo; Bennacer, Adli; Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao; Giroud.
