AC Milan and Juventus will interact of their third bout of the season tonight, with either side trying to take what can be an enormous step in the direction of the highest 4.
As write, the primary two clashes have usually smiled on Milan, who’re undefeated in opposition to Juve and in Riyadh gained the satisfaction of being the second group to beat them after Stuttgart.
Virtually two months have handed for the reason that San Siro assembly on November 23 and the reminiscence of that 0-0 remains to be alive however as a result of it was merely . Now the stakes are beginning to warmth up quite a bit, however what has modified since then.
The draw kings
For Juve, there have been 11 video games and simply three wins since that November problem in opposition to Milan. They’ve been hit by the ‘drawitis’ virus and have misplaced the defensive solidity that that they had proven up till then.
The one defeat within the final 50 days for Motta’s facet was in opposition to Milan within the Supercoppa, however their solely wins have been in opposition to Monza within the league, Cagliari within the Coppa Italia and extra impressively in opposition to Manchester Metropolis within the Champions League.
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Except for that, solely attracts: in opposition to Aston Villa in Europe and Lecce (1-1), Bologna (2-2), Venezia (2-2), Fiorentina (2-2), Torino (1-1) and Atalanta (1-1) in Serie A. Earlier than the assembly with Paulo Fonseca’s Milan, that they had conceded seven objectives in 13 video games, however now concede a median of 1 per recreation.
With 14 factors dropped after having scored first, they’re clearly the worst of the massive groups on this regard. The one enhancements in comparison with the San Siro match in November have been when it comes to accidents and maybe squad depth.
Rossoneri resurgence?
Fifty days are sufficient to alter nearly every part, in Milan’s case. On November 23, Milan have been booed by their followers, with Fonseca’s approval (he mentioned he would have booed too), for an embarrassing efficiency in opposition to Juventus, which ended and not using a shot heading in the right direction.
The Portuguese coach was accused of being too defensive by naming Yunus Musah as a winger in a house recreation the place a win was actually wanted in opposition to a group riddled with accidents. However, Fonseca launched the brand new centre-back pairing of Thiaw-Gabbia which turned a rock on the again.
Virtually two months later, a coach, a means of enjoying, the temper and the record of honours have modified. Within the Champions League, two victories in opposition to Slovan and Pink Star got here, which have projected the Diavolo in the direction of the highest eight.
Within the Coppa Italia Milan have reached the quarter-finals, beating Sassuolo 6-1. Within the league, nonetheless, the stinging defeat in opposition to Atalanta and a boring draw at San Siro in opposition to Genoa on the day of the a hundred and twenty fifth anniversary celebrations didn’t assist.
The final match of the yr in opposition to Roma was yet one more disappointing efficiency that led to the dismissal of Fonseca and the arrival of Sergio Conceiçao. In simply eight days he delivered the membership’s fiftieth main honour by beating their two largest rivals within the course of. Not a nasty begin.
As well as, the Portuguese coach appears to have gotten extra out of Rafa Leao and Theo Hernandez, and engineered , Inter and Como, making it three victories and a attract his first 4 video games.
Tactically, Conceicao has made the group extra compact and extra aggressive, asking for a higher effort when it comes to working and sacrifice. In opposition to Como, this maybe contributed to the accidents that Thiaw, Pulisic and Morata bought.
The following step for Conceiçao shall be to enhance the method to matches in opposition to lower-ranking sides, and likewise the primary half of video games, the true Achilles heel of this Milan. Tonight offers alternative to try this.
