Serie A Returns: Lecce – Milan
Following in Coppa Italia’s footsteps, with congratulations to Gattuso’s Napoli for beating Juventus and winning the 2019-2020 edition, Serie A is going ahead with its attempt to finish the 2019-2020 season. Left over week 26 games were completed over the weekend and now week 27 begins with the aim to conclude the season by early August.
Ten days after limping out of the Coppa with a 0-0 second leg game versus Juventus the remaining Serie A games can allow Milan to make a push for a respectable end of season. Milan sit in 9th position but only three points behind 6th and an European spot. The upcoming games will set the stage for another managerial change as Ralf Rangnick’s arrival is very much on the cards. Relegation threatened Lecce – featuring three ex- Milan players in Gabriel, Saponara and Lapadula – provide a test for a Milan that started sleepy and rusty vs Juventus on June 12th.
Ibra, Duarte, Musacchio and Krunic are on the injured list but the Swede could return soon. In the meanwhile there are two center forward options and Rebic is preferred to Leao. The 4-2-3-1 formation will likely remain for a while yet with Castillejo, Bonaventura and Calhanoglu the likely three behind the forward. Bennacer and Kessie are also likely to remain. The back four could be more fluid but Pioli has only few options. Both Conti and Calabria have been poor enough to be the subject of exit rumours but for now Conti seems preferred. The summer transfer window, now likely for September, may see big changes for the right back spot. Kjaer and Romagnoli provide a solid center pairing and Theo will hope to continue where he left off before the pandemic enforced suspension.
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