It’s a quick turnaround for Milan with midweek Serie A action as we prepare to host Sassuolo at San Siro on Wednesday evening.
The Rossoneri got back to winning ways at home at the weekend after seeing off Genoa, our first win at San Siro in two months.
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It’s hoped that having ended that barren run with a morale-boosting victory, we take that momentum into this encounter against a dangerous Sassuolo side, as we continue to battle for Champions League qualification.
Given the controversy that has been sparked this week with the inception of the European Super League, it’s unclear if Milan are necessarily still desperate for a top-four finish in Serie A this season, but until the situation plays out and conclusions are drawn over what happens next year, it’s imperative that Stefano Pioli and his squad play to win.
As seen in the graphic below from La Gazzetta dello Sport, rotation from Pioli is expected in midweek, with five changes being touted.
Romagnoli returns, Ibra back from suspension
According to Sky Sport Italia, as reported by MilanNews, Alessio Romagnoli is being tipped to return to the starting XI for this game after fully recovering from his recent injury setback.
The club captain has been absent for some time, during which Simon Kjaer and Fikayo Tomori have started to form a solid partnership.
That said, they have still leaked goals and Kjaer could perhaps do with a rest after a heavy recent workload, and so it will be intriguing to see how the Romagnoli-Tomori partnership fares if it gets the nod against Sassuolo.
Three changes to freshen XI up
Elsewhere, Diogo Dalot, Sandro Tonali and Samu Castillejo are also included in the predicted XI, as seen below, as Pioli could opt to freshen things up a little and give others an opportunity.
Pierre Kalulu, Ismael Bennacer and Alexis Saelemaekers would be the ones to drop out for Milan, and it could be a sensible triple move from Pioli given what their replacements can offer.
Dalot provides a bit more quality going forward which could give us a different dynamic in attack, while Bennacer is still working towards full match fitness after his lengthy spell on the sidelines and so protecting him from playing three games in a week would be smart.
As for Castillejo, he has struggled to make any sort of positive impact in the final third this season, but again, he could offer fresh legs in place of Saelemaekers to give us some more energy on the right flank, and it’s hoped he can combine with the others up top to find ways past the Sassuolo defence.
There could also be a boost on the bench for Milan, with Davide Calabria confirming he returned to group training on social media on Monday, and so he’ll hope to be in the mix for a starting berth moving forward.
