AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli is expected to name a strong team for the Europa League last 16 second leg against Slavia Praha tonight, a report claims.
Milan are in the very unfamiliar position of having almost every single player in the squad fit (let’s hope this isn’t a jinx), with Tommaso Pobega the only injured playing and Alessandro Florenzi unavailable due to suspension.
In his pre-match press conference yesterday evening, Pioli admitted that he has already chosen the team that will start. According to this morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below), the back four will be Davide Calabria, Fikayo Tomori, Matteo Gabbia and Theo Hernandez.
In front of them will be Yunus Musah and Yacine Adli, meaning that Ismael Bennacer and Tijjani Reijnders would start the game on the bench. Ruben Loftus-Cheek will be the attacking midfielder.
The front three should consist of Christian Pulisic on the right wing, Rafael Leao on the left and Olivier Giroud up front. Luka Jovic, Noah Okafor and Samuel Chukwueze can all play a part off the bench.
Probable Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Gabbia, Tomori Theo; Reijnders, Adli; Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao; Giroud.
Probable Slavia XI (4-2-3-1): Staněk; Vlček, Holeš, Zima, Boril; Oscar, Provod; Douděra, Jurečka, Wallem; Chytil.
It’s Slavia Praga, ffs! Why this dude keeps calling them PRAHA
Because that is their official title. Slavia Prague is an Anglicisation.
Yep. Prague in English. Praga in Italian. Praha in Czech.
So we should be calling them Slavia Praha to give the club their correct name.
It’s not like the club was started by English expats like Milan.
Worried about Adli and Musah midfield. I feel that will create gaps and leave our defense exposed. At least Tomori has pace and Gabbia has been on top of it but Adli is not consistent enough to give me confidence. Musah is also a mixed bag. Hopefully, I can be proven wrong today! Forza Milan
That’s a fair concern, but it could be an interesting combination.
Musah has an absolute engine on him which might be able to give Adli those few extra seconds on the ball to excel.
Seeing Slavia will press with numbers forward, I think it’s a good set up for counterattacking with more like a 433 were Musah moving ahead next to RLC with the two bursting forward with the ball (both good at it) while Adli sitting deep playing quick long balls. Actually tho I barely have the same ideas with Pioli so probably gonna see something different! I quite like the group of midfielders we’ve to a point that I’m not much bothered about who starts but I’d also consider the pairings. Musah and Adli both seems a bit too careless in possession.. don’t get me wrong, I really like bold players, I’m just feeling that with Piolis slow possession football coupled with 2 midfielders in front of the defense who love to dribble ,is not a very good match. Seeing Slavia will be pressing forward with numbers ,a good set up with RLC and getting more involved in central midfield exploring the empty spaces ahead ,we could see the home side taking enough to give up by half time.