AC Milan travel to the Spanish capital to face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday night, knowing they must win to keep our hopes of advancing alive.
The Rossoneri have picked up just one point from the opening four games in Group B, and ultimately are now on the cusp of an early exit from the competition.
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In turn, Stefano Pioli and his men will know that they must win in at the Wanda Metropolitano to have any chance of making it through, or at the very least of staying in contention for third place to drop down to the Europa League.
With that in mind, it’s highly likely that we give it one final push and go with as strong a starting XI as possible, but it’s expected that there will be changes from the weekend defeat to Fiorentina.
Romagnoli, Giroud in as Milan pursue win
Pioli has opted to make changes and rotate throughout the group phase thus far, but the Milan boss will surely be looking to put out as close to a strongest starting line-up as possible in this one given what’s at stake.
Having shipped four goals at the weekend in Florence, Alessio Romagnoli is expected to come in for Matteo Gabbia to partner Simon Kjaer at the back, with Fikayo Tomori still sidelined by a hip injury.
Elsewhere, after a heavy workload on Saturday, Zlatan Ibrahimovic could be rested on the bench, with Olivier Giroud ready to step in and lead the line to offer a physical presence and target up top.
As per MilanNews, that is likely to be the only changes to the side from last time out, meaning that Pierre Kalulu will continue at right-back, while Giroud will be supported by Alexis Saelemaekers, Brahim Diaz and Rafael Leao.
Ante Rebic is out with a hamstring injury, and so it’s likely to be Ibrahimovic who is the main threat off the bench for us who can influence the game in the latter stages if needed.
It’s a real test for Milan in midweek, particularly as we look to bounce back from a disappointing first loss in Serie A this season, and while the ultimate objective is still to get out of the group and advance to the knockout stage, Pioli and the players will want to continue gaining invaluable European experience and so third place has to be the minimum target.
Romagnoli will hopefully add more solidity and composure at the back, while Giroud’s experience at this level could be priceless as we look for moments of quality that prove to be decisive.
Both Sandro Tonali and Franck Kessie, should both start, will have a pivotal role to play in midfield as we need to gain a foothold in the game early on and avoid being dominated both in terms of possession and physicality, and so time will tell if Milan have got one last stand in them as we look to salvage something from our Champions League campaign for this year.
Probable Milan XI vs Atletico Madrid: Tatarusanu; Kalulu, Kjaer, Romagnoli, Theo; Tonali, Kessie; Saelemaekers, Diaz, Leao; Giroud.