vs Roma

Well if we win, CL guaranteed. We lost 4-2 against Roma last time.

Forza wrote:

AC MILAN vs. AS ROMA

May 12, 2013 7:45 PM BST
San Siro — Milano
Referee:‬ G. Rocchi‎

Ladder:
Juventus and Napoli are already qualified for the Champions League. Inter are out of Europe next season.

1 Juventus 86
2 Napoli 75
3 Milan 68
4 Fiorentina 64
5 Udinese 60
6 Lazio 58
7 Roma 58
8 Inter 53

Green = CL spots, Blue = EL spots

On the line:

Milan
3rd placed Milan are currently 4 points ahead of Fiorentina. A win for Milan will ensure 3rd spot which means entry in to the Champions League qualifiers.

Roma
7th placed Roma need to win this game to have a chance of moving back into the Europa League spots. If they lose this, they still have a back-door entry via the Coppa Italia final, against fierce city rivals Lazio.

Last 5 games (most recent at top):

Milan
Pescara - Milan 0-4 W
Milan - Torino 1-0 W
Milan - Catania 4-2 W
Juventus - Milan 1-0 L
Milan - Napoli 1-1 D

Roma
Roma - Chievo 0-1
Fiorentina - Roma 0-1
Roma - Siena 4-0
Roma - Pescara 1-1
Torino - Roma 1-2

Previous meeting:
Roma 4 -2 Milan, 22 December 2012

Probable line-ups:

Milan (4-3-3):

Abbiati
Abate - Zapata - Mexes - De Sciglio
Flamini - Ambrosini - Nocerino
Boateng - Pazzini - El Shaarawy

Bench: Gabriel (GK), Amelia (GK), Yepes, Zaccardo, Salamon, Constant, Muntari, Cristante, Traore, Niang, Robinho
Doubtful: Balotelli (fever), Montolivo (muscle tear in right leg), Antonini, Bonera
Injured: De Jong (season), Bojan (season)
Ostracised: Didac

Roma (4-3-3):

Lobont
Torosidis - Marquinhos - Castan - Balzaretti
Bradley - De Rossi - Florenzi
Lamela - Osvaldo - Totti

Bench: Goicoechea, Svedkauskas, Burdisso, Taddei, Dodo, Piris, Marquinho, Pjanic, Destro, Perrotta, Tachtsidis, Lopez
Injured: Steklenburg (back in the 37th matchday)

In form:

Milan
Balotelli has been amazing this year, scoring 11 goals in 11 games. He missed training this week due to a fever, however, there is still a chance that he may play. Flamini isn't the biggest contributor to this Milan side, but it is worth noting that he's popped up to score 3 goals in 3 games as his contract renewal date draws near.

Roma
Osvaldo has been Roma's most potent forward this season, although Totti and Lamela have also been crucial out wide. Marquinhos has been solid at the back. Bradley is the quiet achiever in the Roma midfield.

Out of form:

Milan
El Shaarawy, despite playing reasonably well each week, is struggling for confidence in front of goal. Boateng is virtually useless.

Roma
De Rossi hasn't had a great season, he doesn't look like the tenacious midfielder we used to know.

Preview

Milan
The injury to Montolivo makes Milan's midfield look dreadful. Allegri won't risk the young Cristante in such a big game. If there are any changes to that midfield it will probably be Muntari on for Ambrosini. Add to that Balotelli's illness and I struggle to see how Milan are going to get out of this one. The defence has been reasonably solid, but I expect Roma's attack (one of the best in the league) to create several good opportunities. Milan struggle to supply assists and crosses for the forwards, so the only hope is some brilliance from SES or some poaching from Pazzini.

Roma
Inconsistency has hampered this Roma team throughout the season, under both coaches. Not helpful is Andreazzoli switching between 3-5-2 and 4-3-3 (better IMO). Totti continues to run the show and if he doesn't play well the team looks uninspired, dull and boring. On the other hand, Roma can be devastating if he's on form and Milan have traditionally struggled to deal with him and Lamela.


Forza Milan! Hope this is a great game!

I think Balo will play. No Montolivo is gonna cost us. Predicting a draw. 2-2 (Flamini, Osvaldo, Pazzini, Totti)

Great preview Forza, though Roma are confirmed to be without De Rossi and Balzaretti, whilst Pjanic is carrying a knock.

Here is Roma's squad for the Milan match: Bradley, Burdisso, Castan, Destro, Dodo, Florenzi, Goicoechea, Lamela, Lobont, Lopez, Lucca, Marquinho, Marquinhos, Osvaldo, Perrotta, Piris, Pjanic, Romagnoli, Svedkauskas, Tachtsidis, Taddei, Torosidis, Totti

Despite these absences, this is a fixture which always poses danger to us. Whilst we broke a streak of negative results against Roma with two victories last season, they remain a team that cause us extreme difficulty.

One can certainly not expect the game to pan out in the same manner as our previous meeting however, as Andreazzoli is prepared to play a far more conservative, pragmatic style than Zeman, whose aggressive approach successfully overwhelmed us in December but which carries obvious risks.

Last game, Boateng was used as a false nine with Nocerino often attempting to make the run in behind a very high line as Roma pressed high, however Roma's pressure on Montolivo through Bradley stifled our ability to strike on the counter, with the Roma midfield instead preferring to funnel our play through Ambrosini who struggled to launch attacks with the same precision and regularity as Riccardo. The key to the match however lay in the intensity shown by the forwards. Our right flank was overwhelmed last match as we were consistently caught a man down as Robinho failed to track Balzaretti's attacks down the left, leaving De Sciglio and Montolivo outnumbered against the trio of Balza, Totti and Bradley as Roma struck quickly and decisively from the quality deliveries arriving down their left flank. Totti was the undoubted man of the match, dropping into midfield and dictating the direction of Roma's attacks, whilst Bradley was tremendous and midfield, with Osvaldo and Lamela expertly taking their chances. It was Totti's defensive diligance however, doggedly tracking De Sciglio and stifling his ability to contribute to the attack almost entirely which encapsulated Roma's intensive approach and made Robinho's absence defensively so demonstrative of everything that went wrong for us in that game.

Moving into our penultimate fixture, a number of personnel changes can be expected in defence compared to our last outing, with Abate and Zapata absent from our humbling in December. Montolivo's absence will be crucial however, first creatively in our ability to control possession and spread the play, but also in ensuring that our first pass does not go to waste. Against such a potent and technically able side, one can not afford to lose the ball having just won it. Last time around, Roma stifled our transition from offence to defence, resulting in the turnover of possession and the launching of another attack before our lines in defence and midfield could adjust and re-establish themselves. Limiting these opportunities will be crucial and if Roma are to score, we must ensure that they earn their chances through good play.

A key change however shall be the use of a true centre forward, either Balotelli or Pazzini if he is absent through illness, will aid our attacking game by giving us a genuine hold-up game when playing out from defence to enable our side to control the ball and push Roma back, as well as allowing us to attack Roma's aerial weakness in the box.

At the very least, we must ensure that we do not lose this match, however I am hoping to sneak a victory. This will be one of our toughest games all year however, of that one can be almost certain.

Thanks for the quote M99!

Nice background to the game there Dos.

On to tactics, KPB should be benched for this game IMO. I really think that this would be a great game for Niang to play in so that he can properly test Roma's backline. KPB tends to cut inside and take the long shot, whereas Niang works well with the full-backs and is willing to step aside and not be the centre of attention. He's a team player who can play the wide forward very well.

What do you guys think about that?

Both provide a strong defensive presence, however I believe that given the weakness in our midfield that will arise, the presence of the more mature Boateng may make us more competitive in a game that is likely to be a more combative affair than our last encounter.

Niang provides electric pace on the counter and will possibly provoke a more conservative performance from Roma's left back, however my fear is that Niang has not yet had much experience in games that we do not control and particularly when we lack strong midfield support, his decision making coming out from our own half can tend to be a bit rash, as might be expected of a very raw player. This is of course a judgement made on a limited sample space compared to Boateng, however I can certainly see the argument for using Niang as an impact player with twenty five minutes to go rather than a starter. I certainly expect Prince to start on the right wing in any case, however should there be any concern over El Shaarawy, I would prefer to use Mbaye rather than Robinho.

Of course this is hypothetical, we all know KPB will start as the wide RF.

Consider KBP at RM though, with Niang in front of him. That would be so much better.

De Rossi was not called up for this match, already playing in our favor

Official Line ups:
4-3-3
Milan: Abbiati; De Sciglio, Zapata, Mexes, Constant; Flamini, Ambrosini, Muntari; Boateng, Balotelli, El Shaarawy

Milan bench: Amelia, Gabriel, Abate, Zaccardo, Yepes, Salamon, Cristante, Nocerino, Traoré, Pazzini, Niang, Robinho

3-4-2-1
Roma: Lobont; Marquinhos, Burdisso, Castan; Marquinho, Perrotta, Bradley, Dodò; Lamela, Totti; Osvaldo

Roma bench: Svedkauskas, Goicoechea, Piris, Pjanic, Lucca, Florenzi, Torosidis, Romagnoli, Taddei, Tachtsidis, Destro, Lopez

WTF MUNTARI!!!!!!! WTF!!!!!!! OMG!!!!

Muntari what an idiot, why are you trying to stop the ref from taking out a card.

Pure stupidity...

Casciavit wrote:Muntari what an idiot, why are you trying to stop the ref from taking out a card.

A disgrace. Our players should never act like that ; i've never seen such effrontery on the field before. I mean , whatever the case , you don't do such things.

muntari...

boateng taken off for nocerino....??? allegri

milan playing much productive football with 10 men without muntari...

FML X100

JespSwe wrote:muntari...

boateng taken off for nocerino....??? allegri

milan playing much productive football with 10 men without muntari...

Muntari is an idiot , we knew that , he just confirmed it once more. And yes , i thought likewise , Muntari was playing poorly during first half and maybe his frustration lead him to exaggerate against the ref like he did.

As for Boateng, he didn't play well today.In fact , he was a pain in the ass if you ask me. And if you ask me again, Nocerino should have come much sooner for Boateng; not that him did anything of note , however , Boateng's decision making and the time usualy required for all that , just to lead into failure , was pure frustration. It became more and more frustrating as he got tired.

Conclusion , Fiorentina won their game and ours ended a stalemate. None wants to see a 2007-2008 last game of the season again . Let's win the last one and join the champions league.

Viola still have a chance If Milan draw Siena, and Viola win, they will leap frog you

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:Viola still have a chance If Milan draw Siena, and Viola win, they will leap frog you

Anything can happen in football and all Fiorentina can do is win , but Milan will play their entire season against a relegated Siena ; it will take a monumental suicide from Milan's part not to take those 3 points , don't you think ?

And on top of it all , Siena rarely proved a challenge against Milan , either away or at home. What's the chance to cause an upset now that they are relegated and we have everything to play for ? I say very easily , close to zero.

Like you said anything can happen in football. Siena might actually want to end their Serie A season on high in front of their fans, especially since they won't be back next season. And keep in mind it only takes a draw for you to lose that 3rd spot.

After the game :

Galliani: "Zapata and Mexes is a very good defensive couple, and they will also be our central defence next season."

El Shaarawy wrote:After the game :

Galliani: "Zapata and Mexes is a very good defensive couple, and they will also be our central defence next season."

But.. But.. Just a few days ago he said this:

"We’ll make some changes at the back as it's always the best defence which wins the league."

I don't believe any words coming out of his mouth anyway. I think we will sign Zapata and then buy another defender or two (and we better).

El Shaarawy wrote:After the game :

Galliani: "Zapata and Mexes is a very good defensive couple, and they will also be our central defence next season."

That's comforting...

Mexes has been in great form this second half of the season, same as Zapata. I'd love to keep them both.

Dante wrote:

JespSwe wrote:muntari...

boateng taken off for nocerino....??? allegri

milan playing much productive football with 10 men without muntari...

Muntari is an idiot , we knew that , he just confirmed it once more. And yes , i thought likewise , Muntari was playing poorly during first half and maybe his frustration lead him to exaggerate against the ref like he did.

As for Boateng, he didn't play well today.In fact , he was a pain in the ass if you ask me. And if you ask me again, Nocerino should have come much sooner for Boateng; not that him did anything of note , however , Boateng's decision making and the time usualy required for all that , just to lead into failure , was pure frustration. It became more and more frustrating as he got tired.

Conclusion , Fiorentina won their game and ours ended a stalemate. None wants to see a 2007-2008 last game of the season again . Let's win the last one and join the champions league.

boateng wasnt affective in the wing because there was no one to provide him upfront.

so as soon as muntari got himself kicked out and boateng dropped deep... he hold ball well and was spreading the ball well, actually i was surprised milan played way much better with 10 men than with muntari on pitch when boateng dropped deep.

i probably watched different game than you then..

thats why i dont understand allegri's inconsistencies with his tactics and decisions.

pazzini and balotelli should have started with boateng as playmaker, given we had absolutely nobody in the midfield to control the ball.

Cotes wrote:

El Shaarawy wrote:After the game :

Galliani: "Zapata and Mexes is a very good defensive couple, and they will also be our central defence next season."

That's comforting...

lol donno we defo need to bring new defensive recruits.. but in this game for me Mexes was MOTM.

mexes was unbelievably good tonight lol probably the best game in milan shirt. defended superb... goalsaving headers and saves, played like a midfielder, almost scored a goal... was coming upfront to support midfield... showed a great character! if only he could continue like this!!

want to pay my tribute to Fransesco Totti... a true roman legend. good god, at this age he just gets better and better. he was like everywhere!!! forward, midfielder, playmaker, at times a defender... jeeeeesus!