AC Milan travel to Sardinia to face Cagliari on Saturday night as the Rossoneri have their fate in their own hands in the Scudetto race.
Following Inter’s draw last weekend, it leaves Milan with a four-point lead over our city rivals, albeit they have a game in hand.
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However, the important thing now is that with just nine games to go this season, Milan know that if we can do our job and win out from this point onwards, we’ll win our first Serie A title in over 10 years.
That’s easier said than done though, and while there are some tough assignments still to come for us, the full focus of Stefano Pioli and the squad will be on Cagliari.
While Milan have won three of our last five league outings, relegation-threatened Cagliari have won just once in that time, losing their last two. Precariously positioned in 17th place and just three points above the drop zone, the hosts will be desperate to get a result this weekend and so Milan must be prepared to match their desire and determination.
Stefano Pioli will likely have to shuffle his pack for this game, with MilanNews noting that while both Sandro Tonali and Brahim Diaz have made the trip with the rest of the squad, they have struggled with illness and injury respectively this week. In turn, the pair are expected to be on the bench on Saturday night.
That in turn could see Franck Kessie get the nod in midfield alongside Ismael Bennacer, while it’s suggested that Rade Krunic will be deployed in the No.10 role which is a concern.
While he’ll no doubt put in a shift for the team and provide us with steeliness and energy in midfield, his lack of quality from an attacking perspective in the final third has always been a hindrance, and so it’s hoped that we can still create enough to win the game if that’s the decision that Pioli takes.
Messias Junior and Rafael Leao are expected to support Olivier Giroud, while there is a big boost in defence as Theo Hernandez returns from suspension to take his place at left-back again.
The rest of the backline is expected to be unchanged, with Mike Maignan, Davide Calabria, Pierre Kalulu and Fikayo Tomori completing the starting Milan XI.
There’s no doubt that this is going to be a difficult game for the Rossoneri. Cagliari are fighting for survival and typically, these are the type of games that we’ve struggled to get through successfully in the past and even as recently as the past month where we’ve slipped up against the likes of Udinese and Salernitana.
At this stage of the season with what’s on the line, we simply can’t afford to drop points, and so it’s hoped that through a combination of the solidity that we have in the starting line-up and the quality that we can bring off the bench to change the game if required, it will be enough to see us return home with all three points to take another small step closer to the title.
