Are you ready for Milan to yo-yo back to good Milan?!…get your hopes up again?…Make you feel something again?…
LAST FIVE
SLOVAN BRATISLAVA: DWLWW
MILAN: DDWWL
FORMATIONS
SLOVAN BRATISLAVA (3-4-3): Takac; Bajric, Kashia, Voet; Blackman, Kucka (C), Savvidis, Medvedev; Barseghyan, Strelec, Metsoko
MILAN (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Royal, Pavlovic, Tomori, Hernández (C); Fofana, Reijnders; Chukwueze, Pulisic, Okafor; Abraham
TIME/LOCATION
TIME: 12:45pm EST/5:45pm GMT
PLACE: Štadión Tehelné pole, Bratislava, Slovakia
WHERE TO WATCH:
Paramount + has your Champions League action in the US. Check your local listings.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
SLOVAN BRATISLAVA
SLOVAN BRATISLAVA
Like many of you, the only thing I know about Slovan Bratislava is that former Milan player, and one of the favorites during the banter era, Juraj Kucka, plays for them. I liked Kucka but maybe undervalued him because he was one of many midfield bruisers Milan had at the time. Milan needed some sizzle during that time and for all his positives, Kucka definitely wasn’t that (and neither was anyone else for that matter). Anyway, here’s what I gleamed from the VERY deep research I did (translation: I spent about 15 minutes looking at them).
PLAYERS TO WATCH
ATTACK
Tigran BARSEGHYAN is Slovan Bratislava’s best attacker. He leads the Slovakian league leaders in goals and tied for second in assists. The RW is sure to cause problems so Fonseca will have to be mindful (I’ll talk about this below in the Milan section). David STRELEC is the other attacker Milan will need to be mindful of as the striker is the second best attacker on the Slovan Bratislava side. Pulling the strings mostly comes from midfielder Marko TOLIC, who leads them in assists but Artur GAJDOS is also capable of feeding those capable attackers. Finally, KUCKA, who hasn’t played much for Slovan Bratislava, is starting with them surely hoping his familiarity with Milan…and the Milan ex-player curse…strikes.
DEFENSE
Slovan Bratislava’s defense doesn’t seem to be as cemented as their attackers, as the attackers play most games but the defense rotates. Judging by the results so far in Champions League, this appears to be dooming them as they sit last in the table and have given up 15 goals in 4 games, one behind Red Star Belgrade for the worst defense. Guram KASHIA and Kenan BAJRIC, the CBs, seem to play the most along with RB César BLACKMAN, as these guys have played the most for them in Champions League.
MILAN
MILAN
Fonseca’s starting lineup is offensively strong minus Leão, with Okafor starting at LW. Pulisic in at CAM and Chukwueze at RB, with Abraham leading the line. Reijnders and Fofana in the double pivot and Calabria starting in place of Royal. Tomori gets the start next to Pavlovic but I think Pavlovic will be at RCB as Fonseca will need to account for BARSEGHYAN down Milan’s left. Likewise, Fonseca will need to figure out how much Theo should get forward or stay back some to help protect the defense (I’m assuming that’s why Okafor’s starting as well).
Overall, a strong lineup but probably could have rolled out the lineup vs Juve here and this one over the weekend. Milan should likely be fine for today but again, at least for me, more questionable decision-making from Fonseca. This is vs the worst team in the Champions League table and they are chasing Juve and others in the league. Sigh…
PREDICTION TIME
Not crazy about sitting Leão because, (1) you just handcuffed him last game, and (2) you could have gotten him on a roll for this crucial stretch to end the calendar year. He might still come in and score/assist, and that would be great, but he almost certainly would have at least one goal/assist if he started. Again, need to be mindful of the next game (build confidence) and the rest of the busy stretch and a cooking Leão certainly helps.
All of this being said, and as I hinted at at the start of the post, I think Milan yo-yos back and dominates today, something like a 3-0/4-1 score. I’ll keep my optimism in check though because who knows between this and what Fonseca will do this weekend.
Michael Lisi says: Going out on a limb here and saying we get a 4-0 win. It’s ugly for a half but late we pile on a few. Loving a Chukwueze goal and Reijnders shots. I’d also parlay with an Atletico Madrid (also playing early), with a both teams win and score more than 1 goal. Kucka starting? I’ll absolutely take a shot from him today.
Enjoy the game!
Forza Milan
gillis