Milan and Real Madrid: spotlight on Giroud and Alaba

For Real Madrid it will be a dress rehearsal, even if some leading actors will be missing (Kroos and Hazard above all): in a week it is already time to get back on track in La Liga, to try to snatch the title from Atletico. Milan, on the other hand, after the friendly match against the blancos in Klagenfurt (tomorrow at 18.30) will have a further refinement against Panathinaikos on 14 August. Both Carlo Ancelotti and Stefano Pioli, however, must take advantage of the prestigious Austrian test (20 Champions on the field …) to get information on the state of form of their players. And to do some tactical experiments, especially in the case of Pioli.

Here Milan

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There has been a lot of talk about 4-4-2 at the Rossoneri in the last few days. Logical: Ibrahimovic is about to return to racing and Giroud showed with the goal in Nice that he is already in shape, it is therefore normal that the idea of ​​seeing them play together teases the AC Milan world. When it comes to the change of form, however, we must be cautious: partly because the basic game system for Pioli remains 4-2-3-1, partly because with Leao next to Giroud the differences are minimal, compared to what happens when the Portuguese does the left half-point. Some pieces of 4-4-2, if anything, can be interesting so far as a variant in the race in progress, when we begin to go on the pitch in official matches. Other aspects to keep an eye on: Tonali-Pobega is the probable median couple who will perform in Klagenfurt from the start, awaiting the assault on Bakayoko and given the unavailability of Kessie (preserved after the Olympics) and Bennacer (Covid) . Nice test also to evaluate the conditions of Calabria and Rebic: the Croatian could start from the beginning next to the former Brahim Diaz.

Who Madrid

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On the madridista front, among the absent there are also Odriozola and Ceballos, two of the special observers by the Milanese management for the roles of right-back and central attacking midfielder. It is likely that Ancelotti will field a 4-3-3 with the new signing Alaba, the host, next to Nacho. Many of the eyes will be turned to him, the true superstar of the Madrid market in this quiet summer but ready to catch fire, in case of developments on the Mbappé front. Curiosity: the last foreign “first captain” of Madrid was the Guatemalan Federico Revuelto, back in 1904. Now that Sergio Ramos has gone to PSG, the armband will go to one between Marcelo and Benzema.