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.
I don`t understand how RLC could be atфсл midfielder.In Chelsea he was eves playing central defender,but naturally he is defending mid.
You are saying the right thing. Calabria can defend well when he was asked to. RLC is also my problem. Ro me he should play Fofana & Musa in front of the defence & move Reijnders up to play as number 10. I like the way you analyse. That’s good
With fans like you who needs Inter.
Ooooh someone criticized your boy 😢
Someone criticised the club captain .
This is not what fans are supposed to do.
So he won’t dribble Emerson anyhow
Wow, Pavlovici instead of Tomori 🫢
They are so fast…
Let’s hope for a good result 🤞🤞
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.
That is the great mystery of Fonseca.
Does he even care about the overlap!
I do get the idea that you allow in crosses and defend them, but I’m not sure that works in the champions league.
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.
Can we stop with the #was, #washed, #Scudettoclearoutitwaslikeyearsagoandwewantsomenewtoystoplaywith?
Milan finished 2nd last season in Serie A without any midfield.
Everyone who is not a midfielder for Milan last season deserves a medal.
Right! You can finish 2nd without a midfield.
Stick to naming ex Milan Primavera bums, instead of talking about current players.
Well by the same logic Calabria is fine because he was in the side that finished 2nd!
You seem to have a problem seeing a difference between someone saying that Calabria isn’t good enough and Milan needing an upgrade over him to you saying something dumb like Milan finished 2nd without any midfield.
You can finish 2nd with halfway decent RB but you can’t finish 2nd and improve on the previous season without any midfield, the most important department on a team.
Milan finished 2nd without most of their CB because they were Injured,. Kind of hard to still finish 2nd without any midfield too.
Next time think before you write something based on emotion because someone said something that hurt your feelings that one of your favorite Primavera players isn’t good enough.
You seem to ignore the fact that our midfield caused most of our problems last season and this.
Our midfield was bypassed in defence and attack.
It’s taken Morata to show what a midfielder looks like.
Maybe think before YOU write.
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.
He’s 27 years old.
He’s not washed.
He’s a finished product. His age is irrelevant.
His influence in this team is dismissible.
The fact that Milan won the Scudetto is DESPITE his limitations at RB.
The fact that Calabria is captain (that doesn’t seem to play anymore) is due to having been in the club too long. It has ZERO to do with his apparent lack of leadership skills.
The one captain everyone could stand behind on this team is currently at Newcastle.
You are not helping your case in any way, shape or form with each comment you make. And the fact that you rate Calabria above Reijnders further proves it.
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.
He was the best defensive RB in Italy for a couple of years in a row. Top 5 and sometimes even top 3 RB overall as well. But since you start to watch Milan since Cardinale came of course you wouldn’t know that.
Best RB for years with 7 caps for NT? Now i know why Italy never go to WC, because they are missed Calabria
Best RB in Italy? Is that why he never gets called up for the national team? If you can’t make that team, which is not even any good, what does that say about him?
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.
Please no Calabria. Don’t change the winning team . Last time we play Calabria was against Liverpool. Now hes back from injury, I think the best choice is he play from the bench for a while
I was actually hopeful of Milan’s chances tomorrow, but if Calabria is playing then nevermind :-/ Maybe they are focusing on the scudetto…
This guys is just braindead, why the F… you start LOFTUS CHEEK AS A F….. 10 !!!! He is not for that position and Calabaria ? Better start with a 3 – 5 – 2
Maignan
Tomori Gabbia Pavlovic
Emerson Loftus Fofana Reijnders Theo
Leao
Abraham
Just my imagination. Formation 3-2-1-4:
Maignan
Tomori-gabbia-pavlovic
Reijnders-fofana
RLC
Puli-abraham-morata-leao
RLC starting 😆😂
I am sure it will be a loss incoming even before watching the match!
With RLC you lose. Pioli didn’t learn his lesson.
Fonseca didn’t learn it, until last 3 matches. But it seems like he is going to repeat the same mistake again.
RLC needs to be sold in January.
We don’t know if this is really what Fonseca is thinking. This is what this journalist is thinking.
I would rather we not make too many changes and start with the same formation we did against Inter and Leece if no injuries of course.
No RLC for now please until he learns to work harder. He has been the problem with half-heart chasing the ball and lacking of intensity. Milan can afford Leao alone, but not two with both Leao and RLC.
Ruben Loftus cheek is not a Milan worthy,he lacks the quality and vision to be an attacking midfielder, football is not just about body frame,Liberali would have been an upgrade over him, because an AM must be technically sound most importantly movement with the ball to create numerous chances and decisive finishing passes, Reijnders is better than RLC in that position,I believe both Abraham & Morata should be well managed to avoid injuries, Okafor should rotate with them..I hope for the best against Leverkusen..Forza Milan
If you see RLC play No 10 and Calabria plays no 2 even the Serie C believes to beat milan
And we will see the result
That’d be RLC who scored 10 goals from that position in Serie A last season and Calabria who is a Scudetto winning RB?
But Reijnders who does f all in midfield, won nothing of note his entire career, and has overseen our midfield collapse is the fan favourite.
If Reijnders doesn’t put in an acceptable performance this game then he needs to be dropped.
“If Reijnders doesn’t put in an acceptable performance this game then he needs to be dropped.” – Said NO ONE EVER. LMAO!!!
Good thing we have brighter minds running both KNVB and Milan.
I liked RLC attitude when he came on for Morata against Lecce, clearly he wanted to impress. When his head is in the game he can be very useful and I think Calabria have a bit of pace and positioning on Emerson so it will probably be for the best he start today.