AC Milan face Inter in the Italian Super Cup final on Monday, and here’s how Sergio Conceicao’s starting line-up could look for the encounter.
The Rossoneri defeated Juventus to advance to the showpiece event in Saudi Arabia, but this promises to be an even more difficult challenge for Conceicao as he aims to win silverware in just his second game in charge.
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After a poor first-half performance, Milan improved after the interval last time out to turn the game around and prevail, and having had a few more days to work with his squad and continue to get his ideas across to the players, Conceicao will hope that his influence on the side continues to grow.
That said, the message from the Portuguese tactician in his pre-match press conference is simply that this is a final, and it’s about winning rather than playing well. In turn, it’s hoped that we can return to Italy with a trophy to build confidence and belief in his work with the group as he looks to make a positive start to his tenure.
Musah to start, Milan set to see bench bolstered
Mike Maignan is expected to continue in goal, and it could be an unchanged defence in front of him with Emerson Royal, Fikayo Tomori, Malick Thiaw and Theo Hernandez keeping their respective places in the backline.
However, as per MilanNews, there could be a change in midfield with Yunus Musah replacing Ismael Bennacer, as although the latter put in an important shift against Juve, it was clear that he’s still working his way back to full match fitness and sharpness after his injury, and so hopefully he’ll be managed appropriately to ensure he gets back to his best soon.
Youssouf Fofana and Tijjani Reijnders will complete our midfield, while Christian Pulisic and Alex Jimenez are likely to provide support behind Alvaro Morata in the final third.
Reinforcements should arrive on the bench for this encounter as Ruben Loftus-Cheek has resumed group training after illness, while Rafael Leao was involved in part of the session with the rest of the squad on Sunday, and so the hope is that he is fit enough to make the bench and possibly get minutes.
Matteo Gabbia is a doubt as he’s the latest player to be struck down by illness, but it will be interesting to see if Conceicao has any other surprises up his sleeve, or if the touted Milan starting XI below is the one that he goes with for this showdown.
He also has to think about the travel back to Italy after the game as we prepare to face Cagliari next Saturday, but this is perhaps another indication and hint over what he feels his best line-up is for now, and hopefully we put in a performance that results in securing a win and silverware on Monday night.