AC Milan boss Massimiliano Allegri has named his final starting line-up of 2025, with come changes compared to the Supercoppa Italiana.
In his pre-match press conference, Allegri revealed that Rafael Leao will be out of the game because he is still feeling a bit of discomfort, having not played since the 3-2 comeback win over Torino earlier in the month.
He also confirmed that Matteo Gabbia will not make it back as he continues to recover from the hyper-extended knee that he sustained during the draw with Sassuolo. Santiago Gimenez is out after undergoing surgery to hopefully finally correct his troublesome ankle.
Milan vs. Verona: Official starting XIs
The choices are obligatory for Allegri in some areas, therefore. Mike Maignan will remain between the sticks, whilst the defence will be made up of Fikayo Tomori, Koni De Winter and Strahinja Pavlovic.
Alexis Saelemaekers and Davide Bartesaghi will be the right and left wing-backs respectively, with Luka Modric, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Adrien Rabiot the starting midfield trio.
Finally, Christopher Nkunku will partner with Christian Pulisic up top, with both Leao and Gimenez out as mentioned, and Niclas Fullkrug not yet eligible to start.
Official Milan XI (3-5-2): Maignan; Tomori, De Winter, Pavlovic; Saelemaekers, Loftus-Cheek, Modric, Rabiot, Bartesaghi; Nkunku, Pulisic.
Bench: Terracciano, Torriani, Estupinan, Ricci, Fofana, Athekame, Odogu, Jashari, Castiello.
Official Verona XI (3-5-2): Montipò; Nunez, Nelsson, Bella-Kotchap; Oyegoke, Niasse, Al-Musrati, Bernede, Bradaric; Giovane, Mosquera.
Bench: Perilli, Toniolo, Perez, Valentini, Serdar, Sarr, Orban, Slotsager, Kastanos, Harroui, Ebosse, Gagliardini, Cham, Ajayi.
Id prefer to see Ricci or Jashari than RLC.
Hopefully Modric can get back to his best.
De Winter at middle CB is hugely concerning, couldn’t we try Fofana there?
Same here on both accounts.
De Winter might come good next season or maybe even before but I agree currently he has me worried each time he plays and hasn’t shown much promise yet. Pavlovic did at least to me show promise from time to time last year which hardly is the case with the Belgian yet.
Either way this is a must win match and hopefully we can manage to do exactly that and preferably with some margin. You never know though with these early matches which seems to mare us over the years,
We certainly have a knack of making these relegation battlers look like Real Madrid
Id prefer De Winter playing on the outside if he is to play. The central position requires more calm and consistency
Indeed.
You are probably right but as things stands I prefer him sitting on the bench and maybe even giving Odogu a chance instead as he can’t hardly do much worse.
Which one of the Usual Suspects will mess this game up for us…
– The defence
– Parking the bus
– The Ref
Dead wood midfield..astonishing
We play 20 minutes for nothing, very anemic attitude. If the score stays 0-0 till the minute 80 , I bet our team will run desperates like headless chickens for a goal in the last 10 minutes. Why you don’t press now with fury ?
Because we’re waiting for them to score – then we’ll wake up…
I’d take the loss if just to see someone from the crowd running into the field and knocks the refs teeth out of his mouth. What a shambolic performance he has showcased up until now, not that Milan has performed well but its an uphill battle against two fronts.
Well at least he by now rewarded us a penalty and Nkunku scoring afterwards.
You guys be expecting too much from these guys in this terrible tactical setup. We’re back to Pioli ball where Maignan has the ball on his leg more than the entire players. Where we play long balls and expect a gaddamn miracle. Allegri ball will make us believe all our players are trash. The way we play is embarrassing to watch. It’s a disgrace to modern football. Our players are scared to take risks moving forward rather they are instructed to keep passing back to the goalie and play for the whistle. Very ugly and terrible football.
I have the feeling if Pulisic don’t play we can’t score
About f’ing time, Pulisic.
Rabiot Pulisic
Nice goal but Allegri’s already reversing the bus into a parking space…
I would love to see Cesc Fabregas coach Milan one day and have a new and ambitious shareholder base. Allegri style is very hard to watch…
Another ugly performance.
Thanks to Pulisic again for being sharp.
Hopefully we can score another 1 or 2 and finish them but knowing Allegri we will sit back until they score and then throw everything at them to win. Of course that will require Pulisic rescuing us again as he seems the only person on the team capable of putting the ball in the net
This is allegri ball. Typically Italian football. Play ugly performance, play defence but win the match. I watch last Milan game, the first corner of the match was 28 minutes. Wow.. this is calcio. Hehehe…
What a boring game..I wouldnt be surprised if we somehow can only get a draw.. Againnn what is nkunku doing in this game??
Good to see Nkunku score. Good penalty.
Not sure we should be taking that risk though
ok nkunku you’re free of the curse
Finally a comfortable lead in a game. Strange this thing comes in a game not so good for us in first half
Nkunku again.It’s amazing what a goal can do for a players belief.
Can give Pulisic credit for that
That’s exactly what Gimenez needs too. Dr. Christian
It would be nice to see Torriani get a few mins.
If maignan gets injured it would be helpful if he had some minutes on the pitch