If the inclusion of Yunus Musah was the surprise move in the second leg against Roma, tonight against Inter it is the possible role of him and Rafael Leao that is raising eyebrows.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Pioli is oriented towards fielding a different Milan tonight. Leao will be at the centre of things quite literally, because he should start as the centre-forward over Oliver Giroud, the man who scored the brace in the 2022 Scudetto derby.
Pioli’s match plan will revolve around different concepts from the usual ones: it will be a Milan that will look less for possession and high aggression, to try to hit Inter on the counter. Leao will move at the centre of the attack with this very task: look for space in behind and try to surprise the opponents with speed.
Behind him there will be Ruben Loftus-Cheek, in the attacking midfield position, Christian Pulisic, moved to the left, and Musah, a right winger whose duties will most likely also support the pair of midfielders in front of the defence, formed by Yacine Adli and Tijjani Reijnders.
During the five derby defeats in 2023 there was the accusation that Inter’s three central defenders – which almost always had Francesco Acerbi as the middle – found it too easy to deal with a rather static Giroud, and thus Pioli is trying a new roll of the dice.
With the match underway, he will be able to draw from a bench full of attackers such as Luka Jovic and Noah Okafor but also Samuel Chukwueze and Giroud. The Nigerian is among the most in-form players in the Rossoneri squad but, barring any last-minute surprises, he will start his second derby on the bench.