AC Milan will begin their 2024-25 Coppa Italia campaign on Tuesday night at San Siro as they take on Serie B table-toppers Sassuolo.
Milan are buoyed by back-to-back wins in the Champions League and Serie A against Slovan Bratislava and Empoli, though a big test away from home against Atalanta looms on Friday.
Thus, the head coach Paulo Fonseca has some decisions to make when it comes to selections, and he admitted as much in his pre-match interview with Milan TV.
The situation that Milan face in the next few days certainly suggests the cup tie with Sassuolo will not be given priority. On Friday there is a game against Atalanta away from home and some starters need to catch their breath a bit.
Nonetheless, the fans believe that the Coppa Italia must be a concrete objective and therefore the squad must too. Taking to the field with the wrong attitude and spirit could make it an embarrassing night, given Sassuolo have stung Milan before and are top of Serie B.
The Coppa Italia is a trophy that Milan haven’t won for 21 years. The last time was back in 2002-03 when Carlo Ancelotti was in charge, as a 6-3 aggregate win over Roma came shortly after lifting the Champions League in Manchester against Juventus.
That is why Fonseca will have to give the right motivation to his team also because the domestic cup could be the ‘easiest’ trophy to win for Milan this year. The Scudetto or the Champions League are not yet currently realistic, and the Supercoppa in the Middle East will be a January lottery.
In terms of team news, the three known absences for this game are Luka Jovic, Ismael Bennacer and Alessandro Florenzi. All three are currently recovering from respective back, calf and knee operations, with the first two due back in the next 4-6 weeks.
There are two more to add to the list though, and two high-profile players in Mike Maignan and Theo Hernandez. The French duo will both miss the game as per Sky as the goalkeeper has undergone a ‘minor dental surgery’, whereas Theo suffered a bruised foot at the weekend.
The same broadcaster are reporting that Marco Sportiello will be between the posts with Filippo Terracciano filling in at left-back. Davide Calabria, Fikayo Tomori and Strahinja Pavlovic should complete the back four.
There will be no rest for Youssouf Fofana and Tijjani Reijnders in midfield it seems, though Samuel Chukwueze, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Noah Okafor could start behind Tammy Abraham in what would be a rotated attacking group.
Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Sportiello; Calabria, Tomori, Pavlovic, Terracciano; Fofana, Reijnders; Chukwueze, Loftus-Cheek, Leao/Okafor; Abraham.
