v
CESENA
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan
September 24, 2011; 18:45 GMT
****
AC Milan will aim at finding their first victory in the new season as they host Cesena at San Siro in the fourth round of Serie A action. The title defence hasn’t begun exactly in a fashion that depicts the flavour of a champion team on the pitch. To Milan’s defence, the fixture list hasn’t been kind to them as three of the toughest teams in the league in Lazio, Napoli and Udinese were the opponents for the Rossoneri in the previous three rounds. However, it is high time Max Allegri’s men start meaning business and nothing short of a Cesena demolition over the weekend should please the fans. The growing list of injuries is another major concern for Allegri as he is not being able to field his best eleven together.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho have been the two biggest absentees in the season so far and to add insult to the injury, Alexandre Pato too has been ruled out for four weeks after straining his muscle during the first half in the midweek fixture against Udinese. Kevin Prince-Boateng, the chief establisher of some sort of linkage between the midfield and the attack too has gone missing for a while now which makes Allegri’s task ever more difficult to find the best combination. Cesena not being one of the better teams in Serie A, should give Milan some breathing space amidst all the tough oppositions faced so far but the fact that they were the team that handed over Milan their first defeat of the last season must be hovering over Allegri’s mind before going into this game.
Under the newly appointed coach Marco Giampaolo, Cesena have started the season in a nightmarish manner having lost all the three league games so far and are stuck right at the bottom of the table. The major agenda therefore for Giampaolo would be to secure the first point of the season and though it is not a mean task to come out unscathed of San Siro, Cesena should be seen displaying an absolutely resolute game aiming only at avoiding further humiliation coming their way.
Team News and Tactical Brief
AC Milan
None of Milan’s chief marksmen is expected to start this game which leaves coach Allegri with a pretty thin squad to choose from. The bad boy of Italian football, Antonio Cassano is certain to start leading the attack and the unavailability of as many as three strikers may compel Allegri to change the formation to suit to only one striker as it is highly unlikely to see Allegri start with Pippo Inzaghi alongside Cassano. Stephen El Shaarawy fared more than decently against Udinese having netted his first Serie A goal but the 18-year old sensation may be deployed alongside Aquilani behind Cassano in order to widen the shape that ensures midfield can properly cover the defensive line.
Almost half the Milan squad is deemed unavailable for the fixture owing to variety of injuries and the key players are no sooner expected to return. The midfield would miss the old horses like Ambrosini and Gattuso and the coach is believed to retain the trio of Nocerino, van Bommel and Seedorf from last game to start against Cesena too. Luca Antonini’s absence would automatically bring in Gianluca Zambrotta on the left flank whereas Abate, Nesta and Thiago Silva would occupy their usual positions in the Right and Central zones of defence.
Christian Abbiati has a point to prove after his blunder during the midweek that cost Milan an Antonio Di Natale goal. The veteran Italian shot-stopper who fared incredibly during Milan’s title run last season is however expected to get back to usual business right away.
Probable Starting Line-up (4-3-2-1): Abbiati; Abate, Nesta, Silva, Zambrotta; Nocerino, van Bommel, Seedorf; Aquilani, El Shaarawy; Cassano
.
Cesena
President Igor Campedelli has been quite vocal in expressing his displeasure regarding his team’s abysmal performance in the season which has reduced them to being the only team in the league so far yet to feature on the points tally. Supposedly the Seahorses were to build on to last season’s satisfactory performance for the club’s standards which ensured survival in the top flight but the disastrous opening to the new season doesn’t speak of anything even remotely close to that.
“You have to play more as a team, and less like individuals. I would have expected at least a point from these first few games.”
– said Campedelli explaining the current situation at the club.
However, the president denied any threat looming over manager Giampaolo’s tenure and insisted he has all the required support from the management and the players by his side. Campedelli also made his un-Zamparini-esque guard clear expressing he is not looking too much into the difficulties that the manager is facing at the initial stages.
Goalkeeper Francesco Antonioli is unavailable for selection and hence the 22-year old replacement of his Nicola Ravaglia will be playing his fourth successive game in the league whereas forward Vincenzo Rennella who is serving a loan period from Genoa too is ruled out of this fixture due to an injury.
The usual 4-3-3 formation is likely to be retained wherein chief marksman Adrian Mutu will line up alongside Brazilian forward Eder and Antonio Candreva who is on loan from Udinese. Club captain Giuseppe Colucci should man the midfield alongside Roberto Guana and Marco Parolo to complete an all Italian midfield.
Probable Starting Line-up (4-3-3): Ravaglia; Ceccarelli, von Bergen, Rossi, Lauro; Guana, Colucci, Parolo; Eder, Mutu, Candreva
Key Facts
- Cesena are the only team in the current edition of the league who are yet to secure their first point on the table.
- Last season Cesena and Milan both secured one victory each over the other playing at home with an identical scoreline of 2-0.
- No fewer than ten players of Milan squad have been ruled out from the game on fitness grounds and coach Massimiliano Allegri has to deal with the thinnest possible squad.
TheHardTackle’s PLAYER TO WATCH OUT FOR
Antonio Cassano (AC Milan)
Cassano’s transfer to Milan during the last winter created a certain buzz in the Milanese circles but the jewel of Bari has so far failed to set the stage ablaze in Red & Black colours. Fantantonio has so far been industrious with his efforts during the games that he started but now is the time to lead the pack in absence of Pato, Ibrahimovic and Robinho. Cassano has to rise up to this occasion and unravel his true potential to inspire an injury-plagued squad with his genius.
TheHardTackle’s PREDICTION
AC Milan 1-0 Cesena
The contest means of great importance to both the teams. It is high time Milan started playing like champions and register their first win of the season. At the same time, Cesena too want to avoid a straight fourth defeat at all costs and shall leave no stone unturned to earn a point out of this game. However, Milan’s want may just prove to be too much for them and despite losing key players to various injuries, the Rossoneri juggernaut should do enough to seal three points out of the match.
TheHardTackle’s BLAST FROM THE PAST
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re5QMrgmZzE&version=3&hl=en_US]