AC Milan vs Sassuolo: Can Rossoneri maintain tenuous grip on second?
Milan will be hoping to maintain their tenuous grip on second spot as they prepare to welcome Sassuolo on Wednesday evening.
The Rossoneri required a fortunate own goal from Genoa to beat the Grifone in their last match, but it won’t matter much to Stefano Pioli, as Milan finally got a win on home turf. Now they’ll have to take on Sassuolo while keeping an eye on Atalanta, who again have started to try to force their way into second spot as we head into the latter stages of the current campaign. La Dea are again desperate to prove they are not a one hit wonder and they’re seeking to qualify for the Champions League for the third straight season. As things stand, they’re the top scoring side in Serie A and have won five on the trot. They’ve beaten Juventus during that run, and also have already beaten Milan this year as well. Just two points separate them from the Rossoneri, who are now out of the Scudetto race, and now are battling to make sure they qualify for the Champions League after an eight year absence.
Certainly, the Diavolo, who still cling to past glories as they want to be recognized as among Europe’s elite teams, really would be loath to end up missing out on a Champions League berth after working so hard in what has been a solid campaign for them under Pioli’s leadership. However, the hosts could be missing quite a few key players for this match.
The biggest absentee, of course, is veteran striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but Ismael Bennacer and Theo Hernandez will also miss out as well. However, Turkish star Hakan Calhanoglu has been included in the squad list after previously being named as potentially not being involved, while Davide Calabria has recovered from an injury. Ante Rebic, meanwhile, who scored Milan’s opener, will need to be careful here as he’s sitting on a yellow, so should he incur a card will miss out on the next match with a ban.
Milan also made some unwanted headlines recently due to their involvement in the European Super League. Now they’ve quickly tried to distance themselves from the tournament after the fall-out. but everyone who’s been following that story for the past few years know that the Rossoneri have long been one of the most avid supporters of that competition due to their inability to qualify for the Champions League for nearly a decade. A lack of qualification has cost Milan dearly financially and it’s had a horrible ripple effect in their ability to recruit – and retain – the world’s best players, but were they able to feature in the ESL, it would have brought hundreds of millions into their coffers, regardless of how poorly they did season after season. Why? Because Milan (and others in their position) would never worry about relegation to a lower tier.
Smaller clubs like Sassuolo, naturally, were not impressed, and even were threatening apparently, to not want to play against Milan if the Super League went ahead. Now that’s seemingly collapsed, and the match will go on as planned.
As for Sassuolo, they come into this match on a two-game winning streak. The Neroverdi came roaring back against Fiorentina to earn a 3-1 win with Domenico Berardi being a protagonist from the bench thanks to two converted penalties and should be expected to be involved from the start for Roberto De Zerbi’s side. Berardi isn’t a name Milan fans will recall fondly, as he’s the player who scored four against the Rossoneri seven years ago and led to Massimiliano Allegri’s sacking, but Sassuolo fortunately haven’t enjoyed such luck against Milan in recent times.
In fact, Sassuolo haven’t beaten Milan in Serie A in five years – since March 2016 – to be exact. Their record reads as seven losses and two draws overall, and their record at the Stadio San Siro is even worse: no wins since January 2015.
From Sassuolo’s perspective, they’ve pretty much done enough to close out the season. With 46 points, the Neroverdi have already secured safe passage for the 2021/2022 campaign. At one point, they were actually in the top four, but they were punching well above their weight, and it was only a matter of time before they settled into a more realistic place in the table. Right now they’re in eighth, and that’s more reflective of where they should find themselves at this stage of the season. However, it’s noteworthy that for the first time since October that they’ve been able to secure back-to-back wins in the league.
Will Milan be able to put aside the distraction from the ESL and its ensuing controversy to avoid a dogged Atalanta from overtaking them in the table? Or will Sassuolo end their frustrating hoodoo at the Stadio San Siro?
