Week 20: Torino – Milan

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Less than 96 hours after defeating Torino at the San Siro to reach the Coppa Italia quarter finals the two teams meet again in Serie A. The first half of the Coppa match last Thursday was an exhibition in tiredness, Bonaventura exemplified it in looking like an old man vs Torino. Almost inevitably Torino took the lead with a well taken goal by this season’s much talked about player Andrea Belotti. The second half started slowly but Milan seemed to wake up and find another gear, eventually the aforementioned Bonaventura scored the winning goal shortly after Kucka had equalized.

The more regular starters are sure to be back for this match. Locatelli will reclaim his spot from Sosa and Bacca will start instead of Lapadula.

Elsewhere Romagnoli is back after illness but De Sciglio looks to have joined Antonelli on the sidelines. Calabria and Abate, himself substituted due to injury in the Coppa match, will be the full backs. Since the midfield will be the trio of Kucka and Bertolacci and of course Locatelli the forward three will likely be Boanventura and Suso around Bacca. Arguably Bonaventura needs rest the most but Niang will remain on the bench. The Frenchman’s stock has fallen in recent weeks and there are a few whispers, however unlikely, that he may be sold this January.

The rivals for the European spots have been doing well recently, including Fiorentina beating Juventus on Sunday, and the team has slipped to sixth – with a game in hand on everybody except Juventus –  so points and wins matter even more now. The coming weeks will be another test for this young team. Forza Milan.