AC Milan V Fiorentina - 03/09/07

Seems this match has been forgotten about in terms of threads, so i thought i would rectify this over sight!

After a great second half in a difficult match against an emotional Sevilla, we will now need to put our celebrations behind us and focus solidly on the dangerous Fiorentina.

Naturally Fiorentina's front two will want to continue their and their teams great start after a 3-1 win in the derby against Empoli. Both Mutu & Pazzani were on the score sheet that day and are both a couple of live wires, so are defence will have to be on top form and fully alert as they deal with the pairs' pace & trickery.

Elsewhere Montilivo (sp?) will need to be watched as proved by his goal against Empoli, a great turn in the box followed by an imperious chip into the top corner of the net. Given our strong midfield, his opportunities to shine will hopefully be limited.

For us we will have to see who's fit enough to last the distance in what is surely going to be another tough match that will test our title crudentials. I would expect Emerson to feature for a good 30 mins of the match, if not start, though that will depend on Gattuso & Ambrosini's status.

I'm sure i speak for all of us when i say i hope Ronaldo will be (as stated by Ancelotti) fit and available to start this match. Aside from those possible two changes, i don't expect any others if we stick to 1 up front.

It has all the potential to be an absolute classic and one i hope we can emerge victorious from.

I dont know who is ready and what is the plan for a team rotation, but we can expect few changes in there. My suggestion:

-----------dida------
-oddo--nesta-kaladze-marek
----------emerson----
---gattuso-------pirlo------
----------kaka'-----
-----ronaldo---gilardino---


Maybe we can expect Cafu or Favalli, and It would be really great if now Ronaldo is finnaly fit to play, aldough I have a feeling we'll have to wait a bit more for him.

I think Montolivo won't play.
I am not sure and i will have to check again but he was injured and they didn't know how long he'll stay out, but the last thing i read yesterday was that he will most probably miss the match vs Milan.

P.S : Jim, you must open all the game threads. I like it when the opening post has an intro. It's much better than some one-liner post

Some interesting stuff :
http://www.fiorentina.it/notizia.asp...IDCategoria=98

For those who don't know Italian , this will be the 75th match between Milan and Fiorentina in Milano. Milan has 43wins - 21draws- 10 defeats.

Ancelotti vs Prandelli - Ancelotti has 5 wins, 3 draws , 3 defeats. It's interesting that Ancelotti never lost at home against Prandelli ( 5 wins - 1 draw)

In last 11 official matches at San Siro Milan won 9 times, drew once and lost once.

I can't find if Montolivo is surely out but it is expected Semioli to make a debut and i believe it means he'll be replacing Montolivo

Jim is the official match opener person. Which is why I didn't make a thread, cuz that's Jim's duty

Jamie: It is spelled Montolivo and Pazzini.

I don't think we need to worry about the players' stamina in this match. Don't forget Milan Lab.

On that note Ronaldo has made two massive improvements over a space of very short time. He lost 5 Kilos and from those who've seen him he is supposed to be 'super fit'. Mentally he is happy. But today he is even more happy than just a month ago. Milan Lab have surgically diagnosed 'El Fenomeno' to be a better footballer when the fans of his team support him. This is very important to him. He has even said it himself when he played for Real Madrid during the time his own fans booed him.

Semioli replacing Montolivo would be a GREAT problem for Fiorentina. Thanks for the news Tony29! We'll see if he is ready or not.

I have news, you can decide whether you like it or not. I will leave that up to you. The referee will be Farina. Farina is, well there is no way around this, a Juventino. Hence he has two good reasons to give AC Milan a hand on Monday. First of all he as a Juventino will absolutely hate Fiorentina. Second of all he will try to lend Juventus a hand if he can giving that Milan is a direct rival to Juve.

since when did i become official match thread opener?

We need to work on our lines of communication

gonna be a good match IMO. I wonder if Milan will be tired or not.

Originally Posted by milanfan22

gonna be a good match IMO. I wonder if Milan will be tired or not.

We won't. I promise you that.

Originally Posted by Jim_UK

since when did i become official match thread opener?

We need to work on our lines of communication

Didn't you open the majority of match threads last season? Anyway you could be this season's official match thread opener

Fiorentina is definitely going to be a tough nut to crack... They might have lost Toni in offense but they still have quite a formidable squad, and they got off to a very good start last weekend against Empoli... They have absolutely trumped the oppositio and proved that they are aiming high and shooting for the top spots this season. Let's see what is waiting for all of us on Monday at San Siro... Let's hope that our boys turn out victorious ... FORZA MILAN !!!

Milan simply has to win this one. For the sake of Juve's chances to win the 4th place

Pazzini, Mutu and Montolivo seem to be in tip top condition atm.... Hope our defence does a good job containing them... I'm also a bit worried about fatigue possibly being a problem for Milan, as we just played a tough game last night...
For this game, I simply do not care about our overall performance, ball possession and what not...All I want is a win, even if it is 1-0 or 2-1, and I'm supremely confident in Carlo and our boys... BRING IT HOME BOYS!!! FORZA MILAN(again)...

Gazzetta predicts:
Dida; Oddo, Nesta, Kaladze, Jankulovski; Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini; Kaka, Seedorf; Ronaldo

Originally Posted by milanfan22

gonna be a good match IMO. I wonder if Milan will be tired or not.

Our winning the SuperCup will boost the morale of the team. Even if the fatigue comes in late in the second half, we have quality back ups for that situation. Emerson and Ronnie could play as starters.

Btw is Rino able to play tonight? Wasn't he injured last night (and had some stitches on the head) and had to be substituted?