And the day of Milan-Juventus came. The 90s are far away, as well as the 2003 Manchester final, yet the challenge between the Rossoneri and the Bianconeri continues to exude a great charm, one of a kind. There is no bitter rivalry like with Inter, nor the territorial division that exists with Naples and Rome: the respect is palpable but this does not mean that there is no coopposition, indeed. Of course, nowadays the respective objectives are very different and the technical rate of the two teams cannot even be compared. Milan is also going through a real injury emergency which further unbalances the values on the pitch, yet nothing can be taken for granted. “This is the best Juve ever seen – confirmed Gattuso at the press conference. – It's from another planet, it's the strongest team in Europe together with Barcelona. However, with all the problems we have, we hold our heads held high, we don't cry and we play it. In football you never know…”.
The thought of the Rossoneri coach it looks more like a public speech, a sort of general self-conviction involving everyone, from the players to the last fan in the stands. In addition to the obvious Juventus dominance, AC Milan is discouraged by the accident emergency mentioned above, which will prevent Gattuso from fielding (for several months) people like Biglia, Caldara and Musacchio, not to mention Bonaventura, another key man who there will be no evening. But in his heart the coach dreams of the coup: in football, moreover, it has already happened that an underdog team subverted the predictions. Allegri knows it well but this time, differentlyUnlike usual, he said he was sure of his team's strength: the defeat against ManchEsther, evidently, is enough to keep the team on the ropes. “I'm sure we'll play a great match – thought Max. – We'll need technique and physique, Milan have only lost once in their last six, also the stadium will push as usual. But we have to be calm, sometimes it can happen that we lose, it's not a drama." Training chapter.
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Gattuso has defections a bit in all departments and even those who are there are certainly not in great shape: Higuain, just to mention the most important, will grit his teeth but it can't be 100%. In any case, the coach will confirm the 4-4-2 (or 4-4-1-1 depending on the interpretation) of the last few weeks with Donnarumma in goal, Calabria, Zapata, Romagnoli and Rodriguez in defense, Suso, Kessié, Bakayoko and Laxalt in midfield, Castillejo and Higuain in attack. Lots of abundance instead for Allegri, that he will reply with the usual 4-3-3 with Szczesny in goal, Cancelo, Benatia, Chiellini and Alex Sandro in the back, Khedira, Pjanic and Matuidi in the midfield, Dybala, Mandzukic and Ronaldo in the offensive trident. Higuain on the pitch, Bonucci on the bench: the choice of the black and white coach is more environmental than technical. Gonzalo doesn't fear confrontation with his past (facing San Paolo as a Juventus player, after all, is a good vaccine), Leo evidently does and Allegri doesn't want anything to affect his match. Because despite the Milan-Juventus technical gap it is still Milan-Juventus: respect, all right, but also bitter rivalry, without any no shots.
