Towards Milan-Juventus: more Adli than Krunic, Mirante is between the posts

Milan, 20 October 2023 – Milan is preparing for their first match in a seasonfiery week between championship and Europe: Sunday evening arrives in a sold out San Siro Juventus, then the Rossoneri will fly to Paris to face PSG on Wednesday and, finally, the following Sunday they will try to conquer Maradona's Napoli.

A triptych of challenges to be faced to the best of one's abilities while dealing with disqualifications, injuries and measured strength. 58 candles blown out today by Stefano Pioli, on his fifth birthday at the helm of Milan: from his debut in October 2019 to today, the Emilian coach has collected 198 Rossoneri benches and is aiming straight for 200 in the European match against the former Donnarumma's team.

Great classic

The match against Allegri's Bianconeri will be the match between the Italian club that has won the most international trophies (Milan) and the one that has won the most titles on national territory (Juventus) but the Rossoneri will have to take the field with some important defections: in addition to the suspended Maignan and Theo Hernandez and without the injured Chukwueze and Sportiello, Pioli however welcomed Krunic and Kalulu back into the group, who could start from the bench.

Both the midfielder and the defender carried out this morning's training with the rest of the group, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek still worked separately: the midfielder's return to the group will be with a Champions League perspective, with the match on Wednesday evening in Paris.

Precisely in view of the difficult and decisive European commitment, Pioli will have to measure his strength in the best possible way: in addition to the veteran Antonio Mirante on goal, Calabria and Florenzi (ahead of Bartesaghi to replace Theo) will be the full-backs, while Tomori will be supported by one of Thiaw or Kjaer. Adli flies towards a confirmation as a midfielder with Musah and Rejinders inside, while up front the offensive trident will be made up of Pulisic, Leao and Giroud.

Record numbers

Once again it will be a hot San Siro that will welcome Milan and Juventus in the big match on Sunday evening at 20.45pm: it will be sold out with the AC Milan fans ready to push the Rossoneri into the Grand Classic of the championship. Among the passionate San Siro fans, more than 45% will be under 30, 68% under 40 years old and 18% of the audience will be female. Furthermore, they are Milan fans arriving from every corner of the world, with 35% of spectators coming from abroad including Belgium, France, Poland, USA, Holland, Germany, Brazil, Finland and many other countries.

The accessibility program also restarts “Milan for everyone”, through which in every home match the Rossoneri Club makes available to its fans with disabilities or from complicated social contexts an innovative audio description service for blind and visually impaired fans.

The program is part of the broader “RespAct” manifesto for social equity, equality and inclusiveness.