Tonight’s derby is very – if I may use the term – decisive. For Milan, obviously. With five points in the first four league games, the Rossoneri are called upon not to lose further ground from the (potential) top of the class and, above all, to save Paulo Fonseca’s bench, who is being strongly questioned and hanging by a very thin thread. A thread that, in fact, is colored by the Milan derby.
Fonseca’s words
The Rossoneri coach was very clear in the pre-match press conference: “I don’t think about the rumours about my future. There’s the match against Inter, I’m focusing on my work and being ready for tomorrow’s match. The team and the match are the most important things. I’ve always felt the club’s trust in my work”. To feel it again, he’ll have to win the derby. And he’s prepared a strategy this week: “We have different strategies for each match. We know we’re facing a very strong team, we’ve prepared the match based on our opponents who are very strong. There’s one thing I don’t know how to do: give the ball to the other teams. We want to play, we want to have the initiative”.
Milan’s probable formation
And the different strategy is a change of module: minimal in numbers, very different in substance. We will go from 4-2-3-1 to a very offensive 4-4-2: in fact, the Morata-Abraham duo will be deployed from the start for the first time up front, with Leao and Pulisic on the wings. Reijnders will be called upon to shuttle between midfield and three-quarters, while Fofana will be, in fact, the only midfielder on the pitch. Gabbia returns to defense, preferred to Pavlovic, with Tomori, Theo and Royal (Calabria is out due to fatigue) completing the department.