Friday night lights?! Ok, might be more of an American thing (it’s a high school football…American football…thing). Still, Milan have won 3 straight for the first time in the Conceição era and just the second time this season overall, which I think is a good barometer for how this season has gone. Things have been on the up though and while they likely don’t need this game since catching a European spot in the table is probably out of reach (and the real meaningful match versus Bologna comes midweek next week in the Coppa Italia final), I still want to win this and then beat them again in next week. Just keep winning…
MATCHDAY:
LAST FIVE
MILAN: WLWWW
BOLOGNA: DDWWL
FORMATIONS
MILAN (3-4-2-1): Maignan (C); Tomori, Thiaw, Gabbia; Jimenez, Loftus-Cheek, Reijnders, Hernández; Pulisic, Felix; Jović
BOLOGNA (4-2-3-1): Skorupski; De Silvestri (C), Beukema, Erlic, Lykogiannis; Moro, Freuler; Orsolini, Pobega, Dominguez; Dallinga
TIME/LOCATION
TIME: 2:45pm EST/6:45pm 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:
Hard to say what’s going to happen here. Are both teams holding back some to save it for next week’s Coppa Italia final? Or do you just go out and play? Bologna still have a legit shot at the top 4 and Champions League football in back-to-back seasons for the first time ever, and just 3rd time overall BUT THEY NEED TO WIN. Hmmm…I think they go all out.
For Milan though, probably makes more sense to put all your eggs in the Coppa Italia basket and some of the rumored lineups I’ve seen have had a lot of squad rotation. The other big factor(s), and it’s evident in the FotMob predicted lineup, is Leão missing due to accumulation and possibly a formation modification that doesn’t rely on wingers. I mentioned in the comments of the last post that I think this is the perfect time to do it. The predicted lineup has a 3-4-2-1 formation with Pulisic and João Felix behind a striker, although I’d be fine with a 3-4-1-2 as well, as pairing any of the 3 strikers works with Pulisic or Felix behind them. A 3-5-2 also works but I tend to like a CAM-based formation.
In the first game between these two, the postponed game from round 9, wasn’t played until February 27th and it was the middle game of the 3-game losing streak in the league that essentially took Milan out of the chase for the top 4. Milan was playing bad football and had just been knocked out of Champions League 9 days before, so Bologna getting the winner in the 82nd minute was a gut punch.
Bologna played well that first meeting, kept winning the ball back in the midfield and chucking it into space behind the high line. In all honesty, Milan is probably lucky then didn’t concede more than the 2 goals. Italiano completely outcoached Conceição but things are certainly different now even if Bologna continue to play solid ball in 2025 (they’ve only lost 2 in all competitions).
PREDICTION TIME:
Bologna have to have this but I’m sure Conceição will want to avenge the first meeting, one I honestly think was one of the few times Conceição was truly outcoached since taking over. But…with the Coppa Italia final meaning a whole lot more to Milan, maybe they sacrifice this game, maybe not losing but probably not winning.
Forza Milan
gillis
*Lineups updated above