The things left to play for are dwindling but this one really matters if Milan want to qualify for any European competition next season. But, things won’t be easy against a very solid Roma side. Let’s dive in.
MATCHDAY:
LAST FIVE
ROMA: DWWWL
MILAN: WWWWL
FORMATIONS
ROMA (3-5-2): Svilar; Celik, Mancini (C), N’Dicka; Saelemaekers, Cristante, Koné, Paredes, Angelino; Shomurodov, Soulé
MILAN (3-4-2-1): Maignan (C); Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlović; Musah, Loftus-Cheek, Reijnders, Jimenez; Pulisic, Felix; Giménez
TIME/LOCATION
TIME: 2:45pm EST/6:45pm GMT
PLACE: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
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:
Loyal readers know I love me some Claudio Ranieri, but even I couldn’t have seen his Roma turnaround coming. They were in 17th when he took over and while they sit 6th now, they still have a very good shot at Champions League if they can win today. Let’s hope Milan dashes those hopes with a solid display today.
As for this game, since Conceição switched to the 3-man backline the defense has only allowed 4 goals in 7 games and never more than 1 in a game. So expect more solid defending. I don’t love Leão not starting but hopefully João Felix can come through (finally) and I’m confident Leão will have an impact coming off the bench. As for the other players, Conceição has rotated quite a bit and is starting a lot of players who can run with the ball, so maybe he’s expecting Roma to copy what Bologna was doing and aggressively press Milan.
In terms of what Milan need to do…and what they need other teams to do…for them to qualify for Europe, Milan will need a lot of help for Champions League and less and less for Europa and Conference League. First and foremost, Milan has to win out and earn all 6 remaining points. Juventus and Lazio have to at most lose 1 and draw 1 each – since Milan doesn’t have the tiebreaker against either – and for Bologna to at most win 1 and draw 1 – as Milan does have the tiebreaker against Bologna. That would get Milan Champions League next season and some slightly less favorable outcomes for those teams would place Milan in either Europa or Conference League.
If you’re curious, here are the remaining opponents for these other teams:
Juventus: Udinese, @Venezia
Lazio: @Inter, Lecce
Roma: Milan, @Torino
Bologna: @Fiorentina, Genoa
Milan: @Roma, Monza
Fiorentina: Bologna, @Udinese
I can definitely see at least 1 loss for most of these teams, but I don’t know that Milan can get what they need for Champions League, but I guess this is why you play the games!
PREDICTION TIME:
Need a win. Hope Conceição knows what he’s doing with the rotation.
Let’s go get the win!
Forza Milan
gillis