AC Milan and Juventus will interact of their third bout of the season tonight, with each side trying to take what could be an enormous step in the direction of the highest 4.
As write, the primary two clashes have typically smiled on Milan, who’re undefeated in opposition to Juve and in Riyadh gained the satisfaction of being the second staff 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 continues 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 they’d proven up till then.
The one defeat within the final 50 days for Motta’s aspect 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, they’d conceded seven targets 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 large 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 the whole lot, 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 with out a shot on course.
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 staff riddled with accidents. Then again, Fonseca launched the brand new centre-back pairing of Thiaw-Gabbia which grew to become a rock on the again.
Virtually two months later, a coach, a means of taking part in, the temper and the checklist of honours have modified. Within the Champions League, two victories in opposition to Slovan and Crimson 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, nevertheless, the stinging defeat in opposition to Atalanta and a uninteresting draw at San Siro in opposition to Genoa on the day of the one 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 foul 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 staff extra compact and extra aggressive, asking for a larger 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 subsequent step for Conceiçao can be to enhance the method to matches in opposition to lower-ranking sides, and likewise the primary half of video games, the actual Achilles heel of this Milan. Tonight supplies alternative to try this.