Milan-Bologna: Crucial Challenge between Championship and Italian Cup

Final technical tests: but without the parachute that in every self-respecting test protects against missteps. Jokes of the calendar and fate: there is a Milan-Bologna today and there will be a Milan-Bologna in five days at the Olimpico. Italian, between the ninety minutes of championship and those who will serve to raise the bar on Wednesday night Coppa Italia, seems to want to preserve the latter, but cannot afford to abandon the former to their fate. Getting it wrong tonight for Bologna would mean not only saying goodbye to the dream of a repeat participation in the Champions League, but also making the road to the other Europe arduous. Of course, it would be better to screw up this Milan-Bologna and get the one on Wednesday night at the Olimpico right: too bad no coach has the right to make this choice. Italiano could have chosen, yes, whether to play tonight's challenge at the Meazza to the max or whether, on the contrary, to save some strategic cartridges for the mother of all Bologna-Milan matches that will take place in five days in Rome.

And he seems to have chosen the second option. No trip to Milan for the convalescents Ndoye and Holm, put under a glass case in view of the Olympics, as well as for Odgaard, left to work in Casteldebole to recover the enamel lost in the last month. In addition, reduced efforts for those who, between precarious states of form and the need to catch their breath a bit, are not at their best today, but hopefully in five days' time. We are talking about Ferguson and Castro, but also Skorupski and Miranda. If Italiano (who did not hold a press conference yesterday) opts for the 'conservative' strategy, it is difficult to see them all on the pitch from the first minute tonight at the Meazza.

These are not absences, or half-time jobs, that are irrelevant. On February 27, those who left their mark in the last clash between the red and blues and the red and blacks, on the night in which the match postponed to October due to the flood was recovered at the Dall'Ara, were Castro and Ndoye, who were good at overturning the initial advantage of the red and blacks scored by Leao. And that 2-1 comeback (refereed by Mariani, who will almost certainly be assigned the final on Wednesday) was an important stage in the red and blues' climb towards the dreams of Europe.

Those dreams, with such a short ranking, in Casteldebole despite the current seventh place are still all there, especially on the eve of a round that will see the direct clashes Lazio-Juve (tomorrow) and Atalanta-Roma (Monday). But to give wings to dreams it is necessary to conquer the house of the Devil tonight, a task that is far from obvious considering that the turnover which Conceicao will resort to does not appear to be significant, net of the forced absence of the suspended Leao.

The certainty is that, at least as much as the legs, motivation will count tonight. Paradoxically, unlocking the result will count less. With 19 points recovered from disadvantaged situations, Milan has just snatched first place from Bologna (at 18) in the special ranking of 'it's never too late to win a match'. Believing until the end is as valid for Italiano as it is for Conceicao.

But also for the thousand fans who will follow the team to Milan today. In the meantime, the groups of the Bulgarelli curve, to protest against the only 300 tickets made available to Fiorentina, will desert the trip to the Franchi.