AC Milan face Fiorentina in Serie A on Saturday night, and Stefano Pioli has provided our latest team news ahead of the encounter.
With nine games remaining in the campaign, the Rossoneri sit in second place in the standings, three points ahead of Juventus, while fifth-placed Roma are 11 points adrift as we look to secure Champions League qualification in the coming weeks.
In order to have the best possible chance of achieving that while simultaneously continuing to progress in the Europa League, Pioli would have been hoping for positive news on the injury front this week, and for the most part, he has received it.
As per Antonio Vitiello, the Milan boss confirmed that defensive stalwart Simon Kjaer has been ruled out and won’t travel to Florence with the rest of the squad, but the experienced Dane is expected to be available next week.
In better news, Christian Pulisic is in good condition despite his efforts over the international break and given his form in recent weeks, that is a crucial boost to have him available to likely start this weekend.
Further, MilanNews also report Pioli confirmed that although Ismael Bennacer did individual training this week, he is in line to start in midfield and hopefully play a pivotal role in helping us secure an important result on the road.
Milan will be without Theo Hernandez though who will serve his suspension, while both Tommaso Pobega and Pierre Kalulu remain sidelined due to injury.
Given our inability to challenge city rivals Inter for the Serie A title this season, it has been an underwhelming campaign, and it remains to be seen if there are significant changes when it concludes.
Nevertheless, it’s imperative in the coming weeks that we’re able to qualify for the Champions League and keep our hopes of winning silverware alive by advancing in the Europa League, and hopefully we’ll have a full squad at Pioli’s disposal to give us the best possible chance of doing that.
