Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss AC Milan’s upcoming Serie A games against Torino and Cagliari with a knee injury, as confirmed by Stefano Pioli.
The 39-year-old sustained the blow during the second half of our 3-0 win at Juventus on Sunday night, as he was forced to withdraw after going down without contact.
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That in turn raised real initial concern over the severity of the problem, and while fears were allayed to an extent on Monday, the injury is bad enough to rule him out of our next two games, as per Pioli in his press conference on Tuesday.
“The only bad news is his injury,” he told the media, as quoted by Football Italia. “A slight sprain in the knee. He will not be available tomorrow and on Sunday against Cagliari.
“Let’s see how the developments will be next week.”
That’s a huge blow for the Rossoneri at such a critical time of the campaign, with wins against Torino and Cagliari effectively sealing our place in the top four and subsequently Champions League qualification.
We’ll now have to achieve that without Ibrahimovic spearheading our attack, with Pioli facing a difficult decision on who will lead the line for us in midweek.
Following his stunning goal against Juventus and the energy he brings to the side regardless of position and role, Ante Rebic is surely the front runner as he has been the most consistent forward in the squad beyond Ibrahimovic.
Pioli does have Rafael Leao and Mario Mandzukic at his disposal too though, with the pair offering different dynamics to our attack. That said, it’s hoped that they start on the bench and are brought on if necessary.
