AC Milan host Benevento on Saturday, and with Zlatan Ibrahimovic working to be passed fit, his presence will be pivotal for the Rossoneri.
Milan stumbled again on Monday night as we suffered a defeat at Lazio which in turn resulted in us tumbling out of the top four in Serie A.
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With just five games to go this season and with head-to-head showdowns with rivals Juventus and Atalanta still on the schedule, there is simply no more room for error for Stefano Pioli and the players as we look to try and secure Champions League qualification.
Our bid has been made all the more difficult with Ibrahimovic sidelined by a muscle injury, as he’s missed the last two games, both of which ended in defeat for us and with only one goal scored.
As per MilanNews, there was positive news in the early part of the week as the 39-year-old joined in with group training on Tuesday with the players who weren’t involved against Lazio, thus suggesting that he is on the right path heading into the weekend.
Ibrahimovic has 17 goals and three assists in 25 appearances so far this season, and while injury troubles are becoming a concern as he prepares to turn 40 later this year, Milan simply need him fit and healthy for the next month to spearhead our final push for a top-four finish.
Rafael Leao has shown little to suggest that he can be the solution in that role, and while there was a slight improvement with Mario Mandzukic leading the line against Lazio, it’s Ibrahimovic who we need to be the focal point and lead this young side through an incredibly difficult moment.
From his quality on the ball to the clinical edge in front of goal that he can provide coupled with his experience and influence to help others play better, Milan are missing our talisman up top and it’s imperative that he’s fully fit for these last five games.
Back-to-back losses at this stage of the season are a crushing blow and it’s understandable why there is a lot of concern and pessimism regarding Milan’s hopes of finishing in the top four.
However, if we can recover Ibrahimovic, get a win this weekend to get ourselves back on track and then focus on the showdown with Juventus, we can start to rebuild confidence, momentum and try to avoid throwing this season away as missing out on the Champions League due to a collapse at the end of the campaign would be disastrous.