AC Milan head to France with a three-goal lead in their back pocket ahead of the second leg against Rennes, but head coach Stefano Pioli is taking no chances.
As Tuttosport (via MilanNews) writes this morning, the objective is to gain access to the round of 16 without giving the home side the chance to reopen the contest and make life difficult, especially with Atalanta on the horizon.
Any result other than qualification for Milan will be a failure tonight. At the moment, with a three-goal lead, it seems absurd to even think about it, especially considering the gap that was observed in the first leg.
Yet the match against Monza on Sunday evening reopened some cracks, so Pioli has reflected on things after making six changes for that game and deploying a tactical plan that saw his side concede four goals.
Milan cannot afford any more performances like this, because a bad evening like the one in Monza in Europe can be fatal even with a three-goal advantage. It means qualifying is not the only objective: a sharp upturn in performance is also needed.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Olivier Giroud will be rested given that they have played a lot recently, with Tijjani Reijnders replacing the former and Luka Jovic the latter, given he must serve a two-game league ban.
It will be curious to see where the Dutch midfielder will position himself on the pitch, i.e.whether he will play deeper alongside Yunus Musah and then Ismael Bennacer will push up, or if he will be a genuine replacement for Loftus-Cheek.
