The team news is in, as AC Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri has made his choices for tonight’s game against Lazio.
If the win against Inter in the derby was a shot in the arm for Milan’s faint Scudetto hopes, the Nerazzurri’s draw against Atalanta on Saturday at San Siro has added a further bit of belief, because the gap could become five points at the top.
Lazio vs. AC Milan: Official starting XIs
Adrien Rabiot won’t be available tonight due to suspension, which is a big blow for Allegri. Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Matteo Gabbia are the other players who will miss out with injuries, while Santiago Gimenez is back in training but hasn’t made the bench.
The coach has chosen to stick with the same rearguard of Fikayo Tomori, Koni De Winter and Strahinja Pavlovic ahead of the goalkeeper Mike Maignan. Alexis Saelemaekers and Pervis Estupinan – the derby hero – remain the wing-backs.
Ardon Jashari replaces Rabiot in the left midfield slot, teaming up with Luka Modric and Youssouf Fofana to complete the trio. Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic lead the line, with the likes of Zachary Athekame, Davide Bartesaghi, Samuele Ricci, Christopher Nkunku and Niclas Füllkrug on the bench.
Official Milan XI (3-5-2): Maignan; Tomori, De Winter, Pavlovic: Saelemaekers, Fofana, Modric, Jashari, Estupinan; Leao, Pulisic.
Bench: P. Terracciano, Pittarella, Odogu, Bartesaghi, Athekame, Ricci, Fullkrug, Nkunku.
Official Lazio XI (4-3-3): Motta; Marusic, Gila, Provstgaard, Nuno Tavares; Dele-Bashiru, Patric, Taylor; Isaksen, Maldini, Zaccagni.
Bench: Furlanetto, Giacomone, Pellegrini, Hysaj, Lazzari, Belahyane, Przyborek, Pedro, Noslin, Dia, Ratkov, Cancellieri.
Hoping for a win to keep title hopes alive. I guess it’s gonna be th3 same old Allegro tactics that painful to watch, but pragmatic enough to earn 3 points.
Napoli, Juventus won points. Como will win probably in next 5 min, so Milan have great reasons to go for win.
It’s gonna be tough battle and possibility to make Inter position much harder.
Como was a great watch. I was surprised how uninventive Roma was playing. A lot of goon stuff that eventually led to a red card. That said, Como when I’ve watch them tend to be masters of their own destruction. Risky passes and stupidity (thy name is Morata)
We simply must go for it. We need to put pressure on Inter.
We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
If we play like a super Allegri style game (bus parking) I’ll be furious.
Nut up guys, beat them
Fallacy of the hot hand. Bartesaghi should have started. Lazio targeting our left side heavy 😔
Like I was saying.
Let’s stop that experiment and just put back Bartesaghi in there. A grown @$$ finished product making such a rookie mistake smh.
Not even playing champions league and the team needs to put pressure on Inter? This is not AC Milan. This club died when the greats were sold and retired. Our football is boring. We look like a top 6 club. No longer a top 3. This is sad. Milan deserves great players (Respect to Modric and Magic Mike though). We look like Man City before the oil money. Man City now looks like Milan.
Amazing the utter lack of any threat Milan posses in attack.
Lazio leading and we haven’t even had a shot.
And that’s from a team with a talented attack that was one of the most prolific in the league.
Allegri sh1t ball
Man…I can’t stand Leao…
Estupinan is again…Estupinan
We play really bad tonight. I hope in recond round we will play better
Leao is poor – poor passing, poor decision making, poor everything – he needs a massive second half – if he remains on!
Estupinian back to the Estupinian we know.
I can imagine allegri’s team talk too. Boys we came out swinging against inter. We can only do that once every few games. We need a draw or a loss to balance the cosmos.
Hope they turn it around in the second half though. That first half was tragic to watch.
It’s so sad. If Milan thinks fofana is a footballer, then we are doomed. Estupinan keeps making the basic mistakes in football and one goal hypes him like he is top notch. As for leao, he will never be great, he is lazy than the word itself. For the sake of momentum Ricci ought to have started and jashari to be fielded later on. I am still believing we can win the match
I wonder why some you are still surprised with Leao. He can never ever become a great player and to be fair to him, he does not care about becoming great. He just wants to get his pay. Estupian made the same mistake in the derby with Barela, only that it didn’t result in a goal. He shouldn’t have started and I’m sure Allegri already regrets his decision. As for the team play, that’s Allegri in a nutshell for you. He can never change because he does not see anything wrong with it. He only cares about result and he’s getting it as far as the champions league is concerned. Let’s just hope we get a more visionary owner that can truly make an impact with signings and a coach.
Exactly this. Well said
Gila showing some class defending.
Really hope we end up signing him.
LMAO 🤣🤣 we’ve come full circle… is that a 4231 I’m seeing haha 😆
Yea Allegri didn’t want to win, took off the Salad and Leao smh
And chance the formation which would have suited Leao’s strengths
Leao is absolute bullocks. The guy cannot run, nor trap, has no brain, he is just tall and has a big frame, thats all. The guy is absolute wastage. i am absolutely disgusted at him for over a year. Its b3en time to sell him like forever and I doubt any team would want him. I would not even want him in a sunday leage team. He is just good for absolutely nothing at all on the pitch. His entire aura and attitude is just off. He doesnt make sensible runs, he has an ego, and the team was more fluid when he came off. It is allegri’s fault to be playing such a uselesa player. Its like playing with 10 when he is on the pitch
Another horrific performance by Milan. Leao is a waste of space on the field – it’s like playing with 10 players when he is on. Rabiot was missed big time but we can’t fall apart because of one player. Estupinian should never start a game, he is simply not good enough. Ultimately, this loss is on Allegri for playing wrong players.
You guys should leave Leao alome.. Criticise Alegri who is playing him out of position. Also Criticise management who failed to get proper striker .