AC Milan head coach Paulo Fonseca seems to have finally resolved the doubts that he had regarding the starting line-up for the game against Bayer Leverkusen.
Just as was the case ahead of the Lecce game on Friday night, the main doubt surrounding the team for the match against the German champions concerns whether Alvaro Morata will play given he is suffering from bursitis.
Fonseca again stated that he is a doubt and won’t be risked, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek should start over him according to our reporter Luca Maninetti in what will be more of a 4-2-3-1 than a 4-4-2 system.
The other two changes from Lecce involve the rearguard, with Davide Calabria back from an adductor problem and expected to start at right-back over Emerson Royal, while Strahinja Pavlovic should come in to give Fikayo Tomori a rest.
The rest of the side will still have Mike Maignan in goal, Matteo Gabbia and Theo Hernandez in defence, Youssouf Fofana and Tijjani Reijnders as the midfield double pivot plus Christian Pulisic on the right wing, Rafael Leao on the left wing and Tammy Abraham leading the line.
Predicted Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Gabbia, Pavlovic, Theo Hernandez; Fofana, Reijnders, Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao; Abraham.
Formazione #Milan contro il Bayer Leverkusen (4-2-3-1)
Maignan 🇫🇷
Calabria 🇮🇹
Gabbia 🇮🇹
Pavlovic 🇷🇸
Theo Hernandez 🇫🇷
Fofana 🇫🇷
Reijnders 🇳🇱
Pulisic 🇺🇸
Loftus-Cheek 🏴
Leao 🇵🇹
Abraham 🏴#BayerMilan— Luca Maninetti (@LucaManinetti) September 30, 2024
Victor Boniface will dribble calabria anyhow
not if we ask calabria to focus on defending. I keep going back to UCL vs Napoli. He was literarily tasked of stopping Kvara and while he added 0 going forward he held his own very well.
I’m more concerned about RLC. He needs to bring the energy morata brings. Otherwise, it’s like playing with 10.
Calabria coming back after injury in an away game against one of the best European teams is risky, in my opinion; he won’t be at 100% of his physical form, adding more risk to his already risky subpar performances of late. Even though I’m not reassured at all by Emerson’s performances, likely it’s wiser to have him start, and bring Calabria in after 60 minutes.
I’m hoping that Morata can play at least 45 minutes. We really need him.
Doesn’t matter whether it’s Davide or Emerson. Fofana/Puli will have to adjust slightly towards that flank anyway to help double cover.
I trust Calabria. He lost a step after his calf issue in ’22, but overall he’s reliable and smart. He was very quick-footed a few years ago and hard to dribble. His experience is valuable.
“He was very quick-footed a few years ago ”
Key words being “was” and “a few years ago”. He was once a good defender. He is not the same player. Players dribble by him like he is stuck in cement now. All the experience isn’t going to fix that. Unless we are going to assign a second player to help him out the entire match I’m afraid it will be another nightmare performance like the Liverpool game.
I’m a Calabria fan since his first start but damn he’s washed. The guy hasn’t been reliable since the scudetto and even then he was a one dimensional player.
No way Tomori is not going to start
No Calabria please. The team has been playing well and the defense has finally started to look more solid. Why go backwards. Not to mention he is coming off an injury. Emerson has not been great but he’s not been awful either. I’ve seen all I need to of Calabria the last 2 seasons. He’s not the same player anymore.
Calabria had one good game against Kvicha three seasons ago and it gets brought up every discussion.
RIght. And they never mention that Milan had to designate a second player to help him out. They were essentially double teaming Kvara the whole match and they all like to say that Calabria pocketed him. It’s a bit much.
No disrespect to Calabria, he was an important part of this team for a period of time but he is no longer at a starting level for this club. Emerson hasn’t been much better so far but he has been better and the results have been better when he has started.
We should have kept Kalulu and sold Thiaw. Kalulu is a good RB.
Fonseca literally said in an interview today posted on here that he’s not planning any changes and somehow you infer that means he’ll make 3. And you have him picking Calabria over Emerson, in a GD UCL game that promises to be fast paced. Anyone who has seen any game where Calabria has started can tell you how it’s going to go. Boniface will ruin what is left of him.