Forbidden to make mistakes. Never like now Milan is facing a crossroads: give meaning to his season or sink into the abyss of the bottom of the standings. The match against Spal (at 21pm), in the light of yesterday's results, offers a wonderful chance to bring the European zone closer together, provided however that they don't fail miserably: in that case, in fact, the relegation zone would really be one step away. We will need a very different team from the one seen in Rome, from all points of view. Errors, whether technical or concentration, have already cost too many points and this is unforgivable, as well as absolutely forbidden, for those who want to get back on top. Today's match is a real watershed, also because Lazio, Juventus and Naples will arrive later, for a triptych that, without a decisive turnaround, risks yielding very little.
“This is not the classification we want but there is still plenty of time to sort it out, there are 87 points available – Pioli retorted in the press conference. – We need to start winning right from the match against Spal, I want to see motivated, proud and angry people, each of us, myself included, must put something more into it”. The coach knows that his (short) budget is seriously insufficient, even if the faults, for obvious reasons, are not all his. The fact is that the "new course" has not yet produced a single victory, which is why tonight, in a San Siro that promises to be hostile, it will absolutely be necessary to succeed. Compared to Milan on Sunday there will be several changes, not in the formation (4-3-3 confirmed) but in the men: in defence, in front of Donnarumma, space for Duarte (preferred over both Calabria and Conti), Musacchio, Romagnoli and Hernandez, with Paquetà, Bennacer and Kessié in midfield and the trident Suso-Piatek-Calhanoglu.
3-5-2 instead for Semplici, who will respond with Berisha between the posts, Tomovic, Vicari and Igor in the back department, Strefezza, Missiroli, Valdifiori, Kurtic and Reca in the midfield, in support of the offensive duo composed of Petagna and Floccari. Thursday of deserved rest instead for Roma, who enjoy the 4-0 in Udine and above all the fourth place in the standings, achieved at the expense of Napoli. But the success of the Dacia Arena, in addition to the invaluable Champions League placement, certifies the rediscovered competitiveness of an increasingly compact team, despite injuries, suspensions and various adversities. Yesterday, the expulsion of Fazio was added to the long list already mentioned, as questionable as it is potentially harmful. But the Giallorossi didn't give up, on the contrary: the numerical inferiority, if possible, even gave them an advantage, also because Tudor's Udinese played a truly awful game, getting everything imaginable wrong and even more.
The defensive phase of the Friulians showed that the beating in Bergamo hadn't been a coincidence, so much so that the exemption of the Croatian coach now seems to have been done. Having said that, Roma played a great game, closing all the spaces in the best possible way and starting again in a great way: this is exactly how Zaniolo's 1-0 goal was born (13'), his third consecutive goal between the cup and the championship. Udinese had a surge of pride and in the 31st minute they seemed to be able to get back on course thanks to the decision of referee Irrati, who threw Fazio out for a questionable interpretation of the clear scoring opportunity. It was reasonable to expect Rome to be on the ropes, but the exact opposite happened. At the beginning of the second half Smalling doubled the lead on the development of a corner (51 ') and three minutes later Kluivert took care of bringing him up 3-0, effectively closing every speech. In the 65th minute there was also glory for Kolarov, relentless as always from the penalty spot after an absurd handball by Becao: the match, in any case, had already been decided for a while, to the delight of Fonseca increasingly in the center some praise.
“All together we fought without giving up, trying to play the game even in numerical inferiority – commented the coach. – I'm not talking about the expulsion, it's already clear like this... These players have great personalities, they understood that you have to defend well but attack because we could create danger. Even in ten you don't just have to defend ”. Philosophy that made people turn up their noses at the beginning of the season but which now, in the light of the results, seems increasingly successful. And Rome enjoys it…
