AC Milan will bring the calendar year to a close on Sunday night as they welcome Roma to San Siro for the final game of 2024.
Milan did win their last game before the festive break against Hellas Verona, but it was a far from convincing performance and the team ultimately remain down in eighth place in the table.
As Paulo Fonseca admitted in his pre-match press conference, the pressure is on to generate results and performances, otherwise the season could slip into a deep crisis.
As mentioned, Milan won a very uneventful game away from home against relegation-threatened Verona and it has done very little to ignite enthusiasm. Youssouf Fofana and Tijjani Reijnders did link up very nicely for the only goal, though.
The big issue for Fonseca coming into this game concerns the amount of forwards that are out. Rafael Leao and Noah Okafor will certainly miss the game, as will Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Yunus Musah, while Alessandro Florenzi is still recovering from surgery.
It was speculated in the build-up that Christian Pulisic would be available for Milan’s final game of the year. The Rossoneri squad resumed training on Friday after three days of rest, and the American did an individual session with the hope of getting back on the bench.
However, Fonseca made it clear in the presser he did that the former Chelsea man has sustained an ankle issue during the recovery progress and will not even be in the matchday squad for the game.
Ismael Bennacer trained with the rest of the squad as did Luka Jovic, so both could make their respective returns after surgery against the Giallorossi, even if they too would start the match on the bench.
According to the latest reports, the most likely scenario at the moment is that Alvaro Morata starts up front after recovering from tonsillitis, with Samuel Chukwueze on the right wing, Alex Jimenez pushed up to be left winger and Reijnders in behind.
Fofana and Filippo Terracciano will once again be entrusted as the double pivot in front of a back four including Emerson Royal, Malick Thiaw, Matteo Gabbia and Theo Hernandez. Mike Maignan, of course, will be in goal.
Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Emerson Royal, Gabbia, Thiaw, Theo; Fofana, Terracciano; Chukwueze, Reijnders, Jimenez; Morata.
“The name Claudio Ranieri and the word ‘stability’ go hand in hand when it comes to Roma. He took a tempestuous situation – abandoning his well-earned retirement to do so, such is his bond with this club – and has restored a sense of calmness.
“He did the same last time he was in charge in a caretaker role in 2019. Unlike then, this time there is starting to be some faint conversation of him being a contender to remain in charge next season as well if Roma struggle to attract a high-level upgrade, which is nice recognition for him even though I would be surprised at this stage if it unfolds that way.
“Once again, results will have to be judged over the long term, but Ranieri has restored some simplicity in Roma’s approach in the right way and senior players like Mats Hummels and Leandro Paredes have gone from being regularly left out to becoming key players again.
“There will still be bad results over the next few months as well as some good ones, but as you say, that sense of ‘crisis’ seems to have dissipated.”
