The charge of the fans to push the rossoblùs: Unipol Domus sold out
CAGLIARI. The spark that could awaken Joao Pedro from slumber went off yesterday afternoon. The Cagliari captain has been called up by coach Roberto Mancini for the playoffs which are worth a place in the World Cup in Qatar. An injection of adrenaline for the Italian-Brazilian who will lead the Rossoblu in the match against Milan today. A difficult, delicate game, to be played with a knife between the teeth and above all with a lot of attention. Repeating the mistakes made last Saturday in La Spezia can prove to be lethal against the leaders.
With nine days to go and with a salvation to be conquered, no calculations can be made. Abolished the phrases like: these are not the matches where Cagliari must score points. The Quattro Mori will have to throw their hearts over the obstacle, stay on track from the first to the last second. It is the only way to put a spoke in the wheel for the Rossoneri.
Reflections. Covid knocks out Baselli. The former grenade tested positive for the swab and was immediately placed in solitary confinement. Walter Mazzarri has one less doubt, he will play Deiola together with Marin. So we go back to 3-5-2, unless the Romanian is deployed between the lines. Solution, the latter which appears unlikely. In attack Pavoletti seems to have an advantage over Pereiro, but the doubt remains and the Uruguayan could be the surprise of the last moment. The defense does not change, unless you have second thoughts. Bellanova (fresh off the call with the Under 21 team) and Dalbert remain masters of the lanes.
The devil. Tonali could be part of the squad list, but he will hardly play from the start. This means that there will be room for Diaz in the “trident” behind the striker (more Girod than Ibrahimovic), while Bennacer and Kessie will be deployed to protect the defense. «Cagliari is a team that plays very offensive football – the considerations of Stefano Pioli, Milan coach -. They are aggressive in duels and tackles and like us they have to achieve a great goal. We will have to be more qualitative than them, play our football as we know, trying to be continuous, attentive and lucid ».
The duels. Lovato-Giroud will be a face to face with sparks. As well as the one between Bellanova and Theo Hernadez. AC Milan’s left-wing chain is completed with Leao, whom Goldaniga will have to take care of. Altare will often have to do with Saelemaekers who should be preferred to Messias, while on the other side Tomori will have to deal with Joao Pedro and Romagnoli (or Kalulu) with Pavoletti. Individual duels that will be decisive.
Statistics. Cagliari have conceded goals in their last 11 home games against Milan. The rossoblù have a longer open streak only against Roma, from which they have conceded at least one goal in all their last 15 home games. Milan have scored in all the away games of this championship and, considering only the individual seasons, only in 1967/68 did they manage to score in 15 away games in a row. No team scored more than Milan in the opening 15 minutes of the game (11 goals, like Lazio and Verona). None did worse than Cagliari in the same interval (two goals, such as Salernitana and Genoa). João Pedro has scored three goals in 10 matches against AC Milan in the top flight, but all between 2017-2018. The captain of the Quattro Mori hopes to celebrate the call-up in blue with a goal.
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