Here we go baby! Long time readers know I value Champions League above everything else. Knockout stage is the bare minimum expectation here no matter who is in our path. On we go!
LAST FIVE
MILAN: LWWW
NEWCASTLE: WLLLW
FORMATIONS
MILAN (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Hernandez, Tomori, Thiaw, Calabria (C); Pobega, Krunic, Loftus-Cheek; Leão, Giroud, Chukwueze
NEWCASTLE (4-3-3): Pope; Burn, Botman, Schär, Trippier; Tonali, Guimaraes, Longstaff; Gordon, Isak, Murphy
TIME/LOCATION
TIME: 12:45pm EST/5:45pm GMT
PLACE: San Siro, Milano
WHERE TO WATCH:
Paramount + has your Champions League action in the US. Check your local listings.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
NEWCASTLE
Newcastle has had an up and down start to the year. More like WAY UP and then down down down. The season started like a dream with Tonali scoring during a 5-1 destruction of Aston Villa. Since then they have lost 3 of 4 and Tonali has missed time due to injury. They currently sit dead center, tied for 11th in the EPL.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
ATTACK
ALEXANDER ISAK is a tall, lanky striker with impressive foot skills. Not the kind of guy that will blow you away with physicality. Good in the air and very technical. CALLUM WILSON is more the Noah Okafor type. Physical and compact. Very fast. I imagine we see Isak to start. Perhaps Wilson late. ANTHONY GORDON is a quick winger that has some bite. A goal, an assist, 4 yellows on the year already. He and Calabria could be an interesting matchup if on an island together.
DEFENSE
SVEN BOTMAN The guy who got away last summer. Tall and Physical. Great in the air. He is the stay at home guy while FABIAN SCHAR is more of the distributor. They make a tidy combo but they have been leaking goals. KIERAN TRIPPIER leads the team in chances created from RB but will have his hands full with Leão. How Eddie Howe (see what I did there?) chooses to handle that will be quite interesting.
NICK POPE is the man between the sticks. He was one of the best keepers in the EPL last year as the Newcastle defense is what really led them into the top 4.
MILAN
Where to start… As Gillis mentioned in the wrap up from the Inter game everything that could go wrong did go wrong and 99.9% of that is on Pioli’s shoulders. Every coach tries to find ways to get a numerical advantage against their opposition and we failed at that mightily on the backend. This plan of Krunic dropping and FBs coming centrally is not a solution long term for us. It’s fine against mediocre teams but it’s not gonna do against better teams. Pioli has to do better and needs to do better at in-game adjustments. There needs to be a plan B and that starts with getting numbers in defense and in the midfield. I think that starts with RLC being better positioned. He got a little greedy early on and needs to sit more.
Next thing is let’s not stress about talk of Pobega and Chukwueze starting. Is that fact or fiction? Stay tuned. Either way games are gonna start coming thick and fast and rotation is a must. Also I think those 2 will do well. Let’s also not play the ‘jump to conclusions game’ and assume that Reijnders and Pulisic are being ‘benched’. Get outta here with that nonsense. There’s nothing to say that if it’s 0-0 in the 60th minute both don’t come in. This is chess folks, not checkers. Expect to see rotation over theses next few weeks and don’t be some over reactive clown. Trust the process.
I think Milan comes out tomorrow and we see a much more compact squad. Pobega will sit deeper than Reijnders and provide some extra beef in the midfield. Keep in mind Reijnders is pretty slight and this level is very new to him. Inter was a bit above his pay grade mentally and physically. I see no fault in Pioli using Pobega in that role and playing it more conservative. I love the idea of starting Chukwueze. The idea of Giroud playing his hold up game with options left AND right with SPEED makes me a very happy camper. That’s gonna keep the Newcastle fullbacks busy and hopefully keep them pinned back a bit respecting our attack.
PREDICTION TIME
Newcastle comes to Milan and attempts to sit and counter. Milan draws them out just enough to get a goal through Leão who toasts Trippier and sneaks Milan a vital 1-0 win to open the Champions League campaign.
BETTING IDEAS
Milan to win, Under 2.5 goals, A card for Tonali if he starts, Leão goal or assist.
Forza Milan
Lisi