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Official: Sassuolo vs. AC Milan starting XIs – seven changes from Roma loss

By Oliver Fisher -

AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli has made a number of changes to the starting line-up for this afternoon’s game against Sassuolo compared to the side that lost to Roma on Thursday.

In terms of absences, Mike Maignan is struggling with fatigue and will thus miss the game, while Tommaso Pobega and Pierre Kalulu are both continuing their recoveries.

Pioli has named Marco Sportiello in goal as Maignan’s replacement, with Alessandro Florenzi and Simon Kjaer coming into the back four. Malick Thiaw and Theo Hernandez keep their spots from the Roma game.

There is a double change in the midfield with Yunus Musah partnering Yacine Adli in the double pivot, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek is playing further ahead in the attacking midfielder role.

Samuel Chukwueze has been given the nod on the right wing over Christian Pulisic with Rafael Leao remaining on the left. Luka Jovic starts up front, allowing Olivier Giroud to have some rest.

That means Milan will be able to call upon the likes of Tijjani Reijnders, Ismael Bennacer, Pulisic, Giroud and Noah Okafor off the bench.

Official Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Sportiello; Florenzi, Kjaer, Thiaw, Theo; Musah, Adli; Chukwueze, Loftus-Cheek, Leao; Jovic.

Bench: Nava, Raveyre, Calabria, Bennacer, Giroud, Pulisic, Reijnders, Okafor, Tomori, Terracciano, Gabbia, Zeroli.

Official Sassuolo XI (4-2-3-1): Consigli, Toljan, Erlic, Ferrari, Viti; Boloca, Obiang; Thorstvedt, Volpato, Laurientè; Pinamonti.

Bench: Pegolo, Cragno, Missori, Racic, Matheus Henrique, Mulattieri, Bajrami, Ceide, Kumbulla, Lipani, Doig, Ruan Tressoldi, Defrel.

Tags AC Milan Sassuolo-Milan

111 Comments

      2. Tons of pressure. We’ll lose the derby and Juve will win, that reduces the gap to 2 points. Then we play Juventus after the derby and we could be on a four game losing streak, so if we lose that game second place is lost too.

    2. Got nothing to lose but if we draw or lose here it can affect the squad mental when we face Roma in the 2nd leg + Inter.

      So better start Theo and Rafa and get 2-3 goals and then subbed them in the 2nd half with Okafor and Terraciano.

  2. I don’t know how the midfield will perform without Reijnders, time will tell. I am not worried about Thiaw-Kjaer because it’s not like Sassuolo got any players than can pose a threat against them. Hopefully a good 2-0, 3-0 victory for the team. Time for Jovic to redeem himself.

        1. Yeah. Sas might be 19th on the table but their atk is mid table lvl. 36 goals now 38. Very foolish to underestimate them from stefano.

          And nah, it’s not 2 much. We all want that imao

  3. Question: if we played Roma at the same time during the week, why are they playing a later game than us? Shouldn’t we be playing at the same time as them for fairness?. Granted it’s like 3 hours but it is something

    1. The schedule was already decided before the EL draw. Changing the time would be too much hassle (think about tv scheduling). Since as you said, its only 3 hours difference. Plus Roma has the advantage not having to travel also.

      1. What????? How???
        Why would one team get the favour that way? Whether Roma plays us or not in the EL, doesn’t that make us disadvantaged because we play earlier in the next game in the league?? 🤷‍♂️

  5. We should win this. Sassuolo are without Berardi now. It’s not like previous 2-5 last season result where Berardi played

  6. Interesting starting RLC. Wonder if that means he rests RLC against Roma, and Pulisic playing as trequartista with Leao and Chukwu?

  7. Not sure why Okafor cannot get a chance.

    He has done well at striker. Given we are planning on splashing out in summer, wouldn’t it make sense to try out what we have already?

    Hes better as a lone striker than Jovic

  8. Why not rest Leao and Theo for the game vs Roma. We got nothing to gain or lose in this game really. Roma is the one who is chasing points and have tougher opponent. We should use that by resting and use their fatigue against them in EL… This is why i don’t like Pioli. He dosen’t give chance to some players no matter what. Terraciano, Okafor should have started as well maybe even Zeroli.

  9. On a side note i noticed that Atalanta is playing in monday in seria A and then in thursday in EL. Only seria A would do something like this lol, two days rest only. Anyway, still hope that Atalanta will eliminate Liverpool and boost our chances in EL.

      1. They play in Monday bro. Then Tuesday, Wednesday are free, two days free. Then they play again in Thursday vs Liverpool.

          1. Well if you look it like that yes, but if you look at it more realisticly there is no day off on the day of the game. They should have played today in Seria A like the other teams and like Liverpool.

  13. down with 2 goals in less than ten minutes played, have too big hangovers today to watch this match to the end.Hopefully they can still turn it around but doesnt look promising.

      1. well i started to watch the match again right before jovics goal and at least we ended up drawing but certainly not the result we were dreaming of.

  15. Yes yes nothing to lose. So let’s lose it like we are salernitana 😂.. Same shit tactics as on Thursday our Guardiola from Ali express doesn’t seem to learn from his mistakes.. gonna be a fun Sunday 🙂

  17. Watching pioli tactics most of the time is like watching a retarded kid trying to put a square shape into the triangle hole

  19. What a weak minded team. I’ve said it before Roma game, they’re mentally weak and so they need to stay on firm ground and don’t let that winning streak get to their head because just one miss will set them back psychologically. And it’s exactly what happened. One loss and they’re back to square one. No character and no resilience.

    1. I love Leao and think he is definitely our best player; I don’t understand why he gets so criticized. But one part I understand: he is an irregular player sometimes. He has had a great run lately but against Roma he was truly the worst player on the pitch (together with Giroud who missed the most explicit sitter I’ve ever seen). He did literally nothing until he was subbed out under boos and whistles, in our most important game of the season. I’m glad for him that he recovered and scored today, but that performance against Roma was putrid. So he doesn’t save the coach every damn time. But yes, he does save the coach often and like I said I love him. But when he is having an off day, it’s truly an off day.

      It’s so irritating that this site keeps saying “you are posting too fast, slow down” when my last post was 10 minutes ago! A matchday site is for rapid comments, like we do in other sites like Bigsoccer. Someone in charge needs to tweak this software and allow people to post more often, at least in matchday threads.

  22. Captain Super Leao to the rescue and hopefully helper of the team. Beware opponent when he does not smile, his adrenaline coming out to gain maximum potent on the field.

    1. Or even Thiaw. It’s clear we need a new/better CB to pair with Tomori. Our defense has been atrocious today. If you’re going to throw the game, might as well give Terraciano a run out instead of pensioner Florenzi.

      Also, we’re now chasing a game that the players seem to want to actually win and it seems like a hot day, so that is even more energy spent.

      The commenter just mentioned how it’s difficult to understand Milan’s formation at times🤣🤣🤣

      Forza B-ioli!

      2. We do have a new/better CB. His name is Gabbia, who has had literally only good games ever since he returned from Spain. I truly don’t understand why Pioli seems to have Thiaw (who can be truly disastrous sometimes, costing us points) ahead of Gabbia in the pecking order. What does poor Gabbia need to do to convince Pioli that he should be the starter together with Tomori?

      3. Yes but Thiaw is trying to find consistency coming back from injuries. Him I can understand. He has upside.

        Kjaer & Florenzi are regressing. Lloriente can probably take them both on and come out with the ball.

        Calabria would only be marginally better. But it just shows you our weakness down that wing in general.

  25. I’m sorry, but Piolli must be high on drugs.

    We are playing a team fighting to get out of relegation, and what does he do? He plays 2 slow defenders (Kjear and Florenzi) on the right part of defence. What does he expect.

    Secondly, why is tomori on the bench, knowing that Thiaw is erroneous.

    Calamity coach! Please do and leave.

    3. “The new Kessie”. Said he was nothing like kessie when we were buying him and half a season later. He’s nothing like Kessie

    1. Everyone is passing poorly. Like Ted said, one loss and it’s back to square one. You’ve even got to teach them basic passing again.

  28. Pioli’s tradermark 5-0-5 aka SOS formation again with a pinch of individual dependence on certain players

    *chef’s kiss*

  29. time to say goodbye to kjaer and florenzi next season..terrible defence so far..excellent goal from leao..but still we need to rest him,theo and RLC for roma

  30. Experiment gone wrong, it’s a good idea for a massive change given our upcoming games. We need those rested players for them. Yes we do, but I can’t phantom Kjear and Florenzi side by side, they are both slow in pace. Why not place Kjear as a LCB and let Theo cover for him with his pace, and Thiaw does the same for Florenzi?

    Caught within 10mins ain’t nice but I must say that the mentality for our boys is high today. They came with a desire to win and they are not letting the sloppy defence drag them down. Good 1st game for Chuks, Leao, Theo.

  32. This game doesn’t really matter. Makes sense to have rotated heavily. I would have rested Theo as well. Leao seems to want to prove himself this game. Good for him.

    CL football is secure next season. Recovering players for the ROMA return is all that matters. Then the Derby.

    I don’t have high expectations for this game.

  33. Can I just say how TIGHT that offside was….. The offside rule is terrible – millimeters do not give you an unfair advantage… It’s idiotic.

    Needs to be changed to it being onside so long as any part of the opposing player is in line with the defender… If there’s a complete separation from the defender, then call it offside.

  34. I’m not too disappointed with the performance so far. I think Milan will even score more in the second half. Just avoid conceding again. Come on team.

  50. I guess this man will have Okafor rot on the bench and then blame him for not producing. SMH

    And Why tf did this man take off Chukwueze????? wtf is wrong with this damn coach. The boy was full of confidence and you yank him ??? Smdh

    If we stay with Pioli next season, I’m ending my paramount plus subscription cos I can’t watch this guy’s team anymore.

    1. I totally agree. Chuck was our best player today.. and instead of taking out RLC for Pulisic .. I don’t know what Giroud is doing at all in this team just watch him he’s worse than terrible . Okafor on the other hand got us so many wins this season as CF I just don’t get it

      2. Who needs to take a break??? I guess your understanding of football matches the one of Pioli . Mute me how much you want you deserve each other 🙂 I suggest you go support his next club after that Napoli or whatever 🙂

  53. Florenzi as well has no place in this team. We got a young boy full of potential Terracciano and just for a single mistake he benches him for whole season?? Why wouldn’t he bench the other idiots who make tons of mistake but no.. this guy is a complete moron and we will never make the next step with him at our helm

  54. Pioli’s third choice striker ran 30 meters with the ball before nicely passing to his first choice striker who couldn’t even control it. Pathetic.

  59. Giroud missed another sitter. He needs to be benched in favor of Okafor as the striker. That is quite obvious. Pioli will never do it.

    1. Okafor will not be able to fight the opponent defenders as a lone striker. Look at Jovic. Not easy as it looks. Then Giroud comes on and Jovic could scores finally. Not easy to be a lone striker.

  60. For having to rest the starters Pioli sure threw everything and the kitchen sink against a relegation side. Did anyone really rest?

  62. SMH Giroud. If he scored that sitter, we would be win 4-3. It’s hard to admit but Kjaer, Florenzi, and Giroud are finished.

    Also, Chuk 2nd goal is definitely not offside. They showed the replay and Chuk hand was in line with Sassuolo defender. Fkin nuts.

    Salute to Consigli though. He saved many attempts.

  63. Florenzis guilty of one of the goals conceded but other than that he’s been one of the goods especially offensively he was the best passer of the ball. And even with that goal conceded he was only beaten by speed which is understandable to me. Poor result but decent performance by the team considering the circumstances.

  64. I guess I see why Pioli rested Gabbia but with a better defensive lineup we would have avoided the first two goals and won the game. Florenzi was at fault for both but Kjaer was zero help. This was a winnable game.

    In the grand scheme of things, this is a meaningless game, but Milan’s B team should be able to beat a relegation side.

    Silver lining being that maybe Inter clinch the title before we play them next Monday. We’ll see.

    1. Actually I didn’t even see the first goal conceded I came and we were already a goal down. Florenzi could possibly at more faults then. And I’m not quite as good at spotting defensive errors as many here. I’m more only looking at the offense. True shouldn’t be conceding 3 against this Sassuolo.

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