AC Milan - Palermo Dec. 13, 2009

I did not see a thread for this game, so I decided to open up a new one. Difficult game.

Called up players:

MILANO - Questi i 19 rossoneri convocati da mister Leonardo per la sfida di domani contro il Palermo:

Dida, Storari, Antonini, Favalli, Jankulovski, Kaladze, Nesta, Zambrotta, Abate, Ambrosini, Flamini, Pirlo, Seedorf, Borriello, Di Gennaro, Huntelaar, Inzaghi, Pato, Ronaldinho.

Not avaliable:

Giocatori indisponibili: Bonera, Oddo, Thiago Silva, Onyewu, Gattuso.



From football-italia.net:
Leonardo admires Palermo, looks to the future with Alexandre Pato and Ronaldinho as well as offering Juventus some advice.

“Palermo have some very dynamic players and are extremely dangerous, but we really want to do well in the final home game of the year,” said the Milan boss.


“We’re in second place and Inter’s defeat last week tightens everything up at the top of the table, so that naturally gives everyone a boost, but there is a long way to go this season.”


The Rossoneri were on stunning form, though the midweek 1-1 draw with FC Zurich was a disappointing performance.


“It was a strange game, as we had lots of players who weren’t 100 per cent fit. Massimo Ambrosini had a fever and he wanted to play, but during the match he clearly ran into some difficulties.


“Kakha Kaladze was also not fit, so I opted for Thiago Silva and unfortunately he aggravated the injury.”


A calf strain has ruled the Brazilian centre-back out for the next two months, a devastating loss to their back line.


The team’s other two Selecao stars, Pato and Ronaldinho, were heavily criticised at the start of the season and are improving radically.


“Ronaldinho looks happy, he tries to do everything he can for the team and that pleases me, as he went through a moment of great difficulty.


“No player can be 100 per cent for 90 minutes in 60 games a season. Pato is always marked very tightly and let’s not forget he’s only 20 years old, so he’s learning on the job.”


Brazilians elsewhere around Serie A are in dire straits, as Diego and Felipe Melo have largely been blamed for Juve’s Champions League flop.


“I think Juve will follow their own path,” mused Leonardo. “Don’t forget after everything that happened with the demotion to Serie B, they probably thought just signing lots of great players would resolve everything.