With European concerns now in the rearview, we turn all of our attention to the domestic chase for the top 4. With Milan 5 points back to Juve and Lazio with a game in hand, a game in hand to be played this upcoming Wednesday against Bologna, Milan should know exactly where they stand heading into the Lazio match on March 2nd.
For now though, our attention is on this away trip to Torino, a place Milan haven’t won at since the 7-0 beatdown they gave Torino in May 2021. But don’t let that win fool you, it was only the second win they’ve there in their last 13 games (2-7-4). So, prepare yourself for a dogfight today…
MATCHDAY:
LAST FIVE
TORINO: LDDWD
MILAN: DWLWW
FORMATIONS
TORINO (4-2-3-1): Milinkovic-Savic; Pedersen, Maripan, Coco, Biraghi; Ricci, Casadei; Lazaro, Vlasic, Elmas; Sanabria
MILAN (4-2-3-1): Maignan (C); Jimenez, Thiaw, Pavlovic, Hernández; Musah, Reijnders; Pulisic, Felix, Leão; Giménez
TIME/LOCATION
TIME: 12pm EST/5pm GMT
PLACE: Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, Torino
WHERE TO WATCH:
Paramount+ and FuboTV here in the US of Aye (Spanish broadcast on Fox Deportes in the US); FuboTV and TLN for Canada; TNT in the UK (maybe?); ESPN for Mexico; DAZN for Germany, Austria, Switzerland; a website called GXR for our friends in India; and illegal streams that support dictators and oligarchs everywhere.
*Let us know if this needs updating or if you have additional broadcasters to add*
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
I said a lot of stuff in the Milan-Feyenoord post match about what I think of this Milan, the star players, the management, and Conceição, so check that out for where I stand on our beloved Milan. But for here let’s focus on today.
Milan have a few things working against them and a few working in their favor today. While Milan can now focus on Serie A and the top 4 (my main goal this season, so good), they won’t really get the true benefits of it for a few weeks (bad). Why, because the best thing about being able to only focus on the league is rest and recovery and also training, the latter particularly import with the new coach and players. So, I expect as we get into March and have those weeks in between games to prepare that we will start to see a higher performing and executing Milan.
I’m not entirely sure what to expect today other than a battle. I think it’s 70/30 Milan come out firing, as I can see them motivated trying to get the bad taste out of their mouths from midweek. The 30%, I can see that being a tired and drained Milan after 14 games in 49 days (a game every 3.5 days for almost 2 months). But these are necessarily excuses I’m baking into my expectations, just facts about where we find ourselves.
The other big factor here is traveling to Torino. This place has been the dentist’s office as Lisi loves to say, and that was even before Ivan Juric captained the ship. Milan just struggles here so it’s hard to bet against recent history. As for how Torino is playing right now, they’ve only lost 3 times in their last 13 games. They’ve also only gotten 2 wins during the same timeframe, going the Juve route and grinding out draws (8 of them during this stretch).
So Milan is going to have to dig deep if they want to leave with all 3 points, which isn’t quite a must but not doing so greatly complicates things.
PREDICTION TIME:
Lazio and Bologna have already dropped points and I’ve routinely said this season, Serie A, more than normal, is a dogfight. So I’ll take literally win of any sort – a last minute win, a solid win, a blowout win. Literally anything. With a strong lineup, very similar to what we’ve been seeing, I expect to keep seeing progress in the attack and at some point it’s going to hopefully come together. Let’s hope it starts today.
Micahel Lisi: Thank you Venezia. Now let’s take advantage.
Forza Milan
gillis
*No Whip Around this week