I…just can’t get hyped for this. Don’t get me wrong, I want Milan to win but I want them to win like I want them to win in a preseason friendly.
MATCHDAY:
LAST FIVE
MILAN: LLWWL
INTER: WWWWW
FORMATIONS
MILAN (4-2-3-1): Maignan (C); Walker, Gabbia, Thiaw, Hernández; Fofana, Reijnders; Jimenez, Pulisic, Leão; Abraham
INTER (3-5-2): Martínez; Bisseck, de Vrij, Bastoni; Darmian, Frattesi, Calhanoglu, Barella (C), Carlos; Thuram, Correa
TIME/LOCATION
TIME: 3pm EST/7pm GMT
PLACE: San Siro, Milano
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:
Looks like Conceição at least realized Reijnders needs to be in the double pivot and in this case, Pulisic, needs to be in the CAM position. You know I would’ve taken João Felix there but this is fine too. He’s also put Jimenez as the RW which I’m sure is to help with Bastoni and the wingback getting forward (Carlos in this case and not Dimarco). These are all solid ideas, let’s see how they pan out.
Leão is starting and that’s a must, and I like the Tammy Abraham play as Milan needs someone putting in the work vs the Inter back 3. Maybe Gimenez can come in later and poach a goal. The backline is the backline but Thiaw replaces Pavlovic…which I would’ve preferred Pavlovic against Thuram truth be told but with no Lautaro available hopefully this will be less consequential.
As for Inter, I can’t imagine they’re playing for anything other than a draw in this first leg with a packed couple of weeks playing every 3-4 days, including Champions League midweek next week. Why really care about this when you’re banged up and trying to pull off the rare double? My hunch is they’re going to play it safe, or at least they will if it’s close or tied with 30 minutes remaining, then I expect them to shut it down and play for the second leg.
Predictions
It’s the Coppa, which I normally don’t care for and still don’t. Does the possibility of this being their only way into European football increase my interest or enthusiasm? It does not. I’d rather have ONLY the league to worry about next season if no Champions League and maybe win that 20th Scudetto. What I would like to see is them play well and maybe carry that over to the league so they can fight for 4th until they’re mathematically eliminated. But I’m not holding my breath. At least the lineup makes sense.
Let’s see what happens.
Forza Milan
gillis