AC Milan face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, and there are short-term and long-term injury concerns for Stefano Pioli.
The Rossoneri suffered their first defeat of the Serie A season on Saturday night in a 4-3 loss at Fiorentina, with a number of key players still absent through injury.
READ MORE: Five key talking points as Milan slip to first defeat of season after Fiorentina loss
While we’ll look to firstly bounce back in Europe in midweek, Pioli will be keen to recover as many players as possible ahead of the encounter with Sassuolo next weekend, and there was mixed news from Milanello on Sunday.
As per MilanNews, Fikayo Tomori is a doubt for Wednesday’s clash with Atleti after he missed out this weekend due to a hip injury he sustained in training, while Ante Rebic has been ruled out for 10 days after suffering a hamstring injury.
However, it’s added that Davide Calabria is continuing his recovery from a calf problem and it’s hoped that he doesn’t miss much more playing time, while Mike Maignan has stepped up his comeback by carrying out personalised training in an important progression after wrist surgery and is being tipped to resume group training sooner than expected, as per MilanNews, via Sky Sport Italia.
In the short term, it’s imperative that Milan get Tomori back for next week as his absence was evident in Florence as we conceded four goals, many of which could have been avoided given the individual mistakes involved.
However, looking further ahead, it’s equally as vital that we recover Maignan and Calabria as soon as possible to shore up the backline once again, while Rebic will continue to offer an important option in the final third and so his return to fitness will undoubtedly come as a big boost for Pioli too.
As expected at this time of year, Milan have a busy schedule coming up in December, and so having a full squad to choose from will be crucial in the coming weeks as we look to maintain our competitiveness, particularly in the Scudetto battle.
