No more European competition to have to worry about, now it’s time to go get all 9 remaining league points and let the cards fall as they may…
LAST FIVE
MILAN (4th): WLLLW
JUVENTUS (7th): LLWDW
FORMATIONS
MILAN (4-2-3-1) *Probable*: Maignan; Hernandez, Tomori, Thiaw, Calabria (C); Tonali, Krunic; Leão, Diaz, Saelemaekers; Giroud
JUVENTUS (3-5-2) *Probable*: Szczesny; Danilo, Bremer, Gatti; Kostic, Rabiot, Locatelli, Miretti, Cuadrado; Milik, Di Maria
TIME: 2:45pm EST/7:45pm GMT
PLACE: Allianz Stadium, Torino
WHERE TO WATCH:
Paramount+ and FuboTV here in the US of Aye and Canada, BeIn for our Aussie pals, ESPNPlay for our fellas in T&T, JioTV for our Indian leoni, and illegal streams that support dictators and oligarchs everywhere.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
So, I held off writing too much in my last post, the Milan-Sampdoria ratings post, about what was at stake in this matchup knowing that all of Serie A would have played round 37 by the time Milan and Juventus kicked off. Sure enough, we know more now than we did when I wrote that post this past Monday. What did we learn?
Well, Roma lost and is now officially out of the race for the top 4. They still have a path to Champions League next season via Europa League, with their Europa final this Wednesday May 31st, but this is the only path remaining. I suppose winning Europa and making the Champions League that way can be viewed as a success for Roma with Mourinho at the helm, but I have to believe the Roma brass wanted more from him considering the amount they’ve spent on his squad. One more reason I never wanted him at Milan.
Inter beat Atalanta and almost certainly knocked them from the top 4 baring some bizarre finish to the end of the season by Milan. Lecce won and are now safe after a VERY late penalty slotted home by Milan’s very own Columbo. Spezia got abused by Torino and Hellas Verona had a disappointing finish to their game as Empoli slotted home an equalizer via a Hellas OG in the dying minutes in the that game. This means Hellas Verona and Spezia are tied on points with Spezia having the head-to-head tiebreaker, so if the season ended today Spezia would survive and Hellas would get sent down. This could especially matter to Milan depending how today goes as Milan host Hellas next week to end the season.
Speaking of Milan, with the way things are right now a tie is good enough today to secure Champions League football. A loss means they can still control their fate via that last home game vs Hellas but it also means Juventus could potentially catch them…which probably won’t matter since I’m expecting a lengthy European ban for Juventus before next season begins.
So, for today Milan is going to go with the same lineup as last match with perhaps Saelemaekers starting over Messias at RW. I think the biggest X factor of the game has to be what version of Juve are we going to see? After the news broke of their 10 point deduction minutes before their last game, they were understandably unfocused and got pounded by Empoli 4-1. Do they refocus and get back that edge the previous 15 point deduction gave them or have they come to realize pretty much nothing they do is going to likely matter in the end as sanctions and bans are on their docket.
I don’t have to tell you all that Milan plays better in an open game and I have to believe Juventus will not pack it in since a draw does nothing for them. So, I’m hoping to see an aggressive Milan and hopefully an early lead. Ideally Milan gets up by 2 or 3 goals and then puts in Rebic – aka the Juve killer – just for sh*ts and giggles.
Either way, we all wanted Milan to control their own fate for Champions League and they have that. So, go get’em boys. Do us proud by sealing Champions League football for next season and this season can be another positive step in bringing Milan back to European relevance.
Forza Milan
gillis