Super Mario is not enough for Milan. The Rossoneri didn't go beyond a draw on the Livorno field, and brought home a point that was almost useless. Allegri had said it the day before that it wasn't time yet to dream of comebacks, and the facts proved him right. Milan are still ill, or at least recovering, and it takes much more than a victory in Catania to fully heal. Of course, from the Picchi match there are also things to save, above all Balotelli's performance. The striker has finally returned to show all of his class, also made up of many shadowy moments, but capable of influencing matches like few others. Yesterday Mario scored two goals, forcing Bardi into a miraculous save and hitting the crossbar from distance which, perhaps, is still shaking. Kakà also did well, the other capable of embellishing the match with level plays, for the rest, however, it's a Milan with a working class game, but not with a soul. Livorno takes all of that, earning a very precious point and saving the bench of its coach Nicola.
In spite of the predictions made the day before, Allegri left De Sciglio on the bench and still focused on right-back Poli. Thus Montolivo, De Jong and Nocerino go in the middle, while in front everything is confirmed: Birsa, Kakà and Balotelli play. The match catches fire immediately and the Rossoneri already pass in the 7th minute. Kakà gets rid of an opponent on the left and puts a ball in the middle that Super Mario, somehow, bags into the net. It seems like the beginning of a downhill evening, but it's not like that. Livorno reacts and puts Milan in more difficulty than could have been imagined on the eve. In the 27th minute the amaranths materialize the good moment with Siligardi, who invents a goal with a left-footed shot from the edge of the area, for which, however, there is also the responsibility of Gabriel, preferred to Abbiati for precautionary reasons. In the 38th minute Allegri was "forced" to give up on Birsa due to a muscle problem: El Shaarawy came in for him. At the start of the second half, the Rossoneri seemed capable of changing gears and Balotelli nearly scored twice with a great right foot, which Bardi overtook for a corner. Milan's goal seems mature, but Livorno's arrives. In the 58th minute Zapata falls asleep and sees Paulinho pass before his eyes: the Brazilian, face to face with Gabriel, makes no mistake and brings the amaranths up 2-1. Allegri gets furious and tries to straighten the sinking boat with Niang (for Nocerino) and De Sciglio (for Poli). However, Balotelli always took care of saving everything: in the 83rd minute he stunned Bardi and all of Picchi with an extraordinary free-kick that slipped under the top corner. Not happy, in the 90th minute he nearly scored to make it 2-3 with a terrifying right-footed shot from very long distance, but the ball hit the crossbar. It would have been an amazing goal, but perhaps also an excessive gift for this Milan. Who still has to work a lot before being able to truly say out of the crisis.
