Off to France [Newsletter]
AC Milan have drawn Stade Rennais in the Europa League play-off round, scheduled to take on the French side in February next year. For now, however, Stefano Pioli’s men are fully focused on the league and their clash against Salernitana this Friday evening. The aim, of course, is to clinch all three points and celebrate Christmas at ease.
Milan claimed all three points against Monza after a rather convincing display at San Siro on Sunday morning. Tijjani Reijnders opened the scoring with a solo goal, would you believe it, and the youngster Jan-Carlo Simic then doubled the lead after coming off the bench. At 18 years old, it was his debut for the club, and there is no better way to introduce yourself at San Siro.
From there, the Rossoneri played with tremendous confidence and this showed especially on the third goal, when Noah Okafor finished off a brilliantly worked move. A great day for Milan, in other words, although the injuries of the Swiss forward and Tommaso Pobega once again highlighted the Achilles heel. Let’s try to focus on the positives for once, though.
In the Europa League, Milan have drawn Stade Rennais in the play-off round and considering the potential opponents - including the likes of Freiburg, Marseille and Sporting - this was a great outcome for the Rossoneri. The French side have won just three games this season and are four points off direct relegation, which says a lot about the quality.
Of course, no one is expecting the Rossoneri to crash out of the Europa League play-off regardless, but it was still nice to get a good draw after the recent ‘Group of Death’ experience. The first leg will be played at San Siro on February 15 (21:00 CET), while the second leg will be played at Roazhon Park on February 22 (18:45 CET).
Forgetting about the European adventure for a minute, Milan’s full focus must now be on Friday’s clash against Salernitana, as the players will want to celebrate Christmas at ease. The Rossoneri legend Filippo Inzaghi took over the Arechi side in October and he led them to their first win of the season, but it’s now been three consecutive losses since that success.
There is no doubt about the fact that Milan are clear favourites, therefore, but Salernitana might perform better knowing that everyone expects the Rossoneri to win. This is not an excuse for Stefano Pioli’s men, of course, but it’s perhaps worth keeping in mind on Friday.
News bulletin
➤ Milan’s Primavera side suffered defeat in the final game of their UEFA Youth League group stage campaign, losing 3-1 against Newcastle, but they had already secured top spot. Then, they battled for a 1-1 draw in the Primavera derby against Inter after playing the second half with 10 men.
➤ The AC Milan women looked like heading for another disappointing result in the league on Saturday, but Emelyne Laurent’s 96th-minute equaliser earned them a 1-1 draw against Napoli at home.
➤ At Milanello on Wednesday there was a ‘Secret Santa’ initiative that went down really well with the squad. Sky revealed details on it, including whose idea it was and the gifts given, which ranged from perfumes to Disneyland trips.
➤ Sticking with Sky, they reported that the Milan management want to make three signings during the January transfer window that would address three key gaps in the squad, meaning we could well be set for a busy month.
➤ Who might those signings be? La Gazzetta reported that Serhou Guirassy appears to be the favourite for the centre-forward role - even if Akor Adams winked at Milan earlier in the week - with Clement Lenglet an idea for the centre-back position, and Juan Miranda for left-back.
➤ On Wednesday morning both La Gazzetta dello Sport and Il Giorno provided updates on how Milan's new stadium plan is proceeding, including the naming rights issue, capacity, design and other facilities. We compiled them into a piece on our site.
In case you missed it
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