Escape trials. The midweek shift of Serie A, the only one of the season, will immediately offer the high-altitude big match between Milan and league leaders NapoliThe Azzurri have been leading the championship for several weeks and last weekend they even increased their lead, thanks to the explosive 4-4 draw in derby of Italy. The Rossoneri, on the other hand, are stuck on 14 points, but with the Bologna match still to be played: they could potentially find themselves on par with Juve and they are 1 point behind Inter, so today's match counts a lot for them too.
Milan – Naples (20.45pm, Dazn)
The wait is long, first of all to understand the real consistency of Napoli, in the first big match of the season after the one in September with Juventus. Conte's detractors have often underlined the favourable calendar he has had up to now, citing it as the main reason for the run up the standings. Now, however, there will be a series of direct clashes (Milan, Atalanta, Inter and Roma) and the truth will come out: if the Azzurri are able to get through this cycle without missteps, their candidacy for the Scudetto will become truly concrete. The same goes for Milan, albeit with some differences. called to win to stop Napoli's run, but above all to start his own. We don't know what would have happened if the match against Bologna had been played on Saturday, but the standings could certainly have taken on very different contours. The Devils will do well not to be scared by the 8-point gap given the asterisk in question (which will remain as such at least until February), but it is clear that a defeat would weigh heavily on the club's championship ambitions, given that the Rossoneri would sink to as low as minus 11. The pressure is high and the disqualifications of Theo Hernandez e Reinders, postponed to today after the postponement with Bologna, do not help at all: Fonseca will have to do without two fundamental pieces, but this does not mean he will go back on his ideas. Leao, questioned after the defeat in Florence and further criticized against Club Brugge, will start from the bench, as will Tomori, demoted to reserve despite Gabbia's injury. Conte does not have these problems, increasingly master of the Azzurri world and determined to move forward with his men, with the exception of the injured Lobotka. The coach, numbers in hand, could even be satisfied with a draw, even if it is clear that winning at San Siro would give him a huge boost in the championship race.
Fonseca: “Penalized by the postponement with Bologna, but we are still in the race for the Scudetto”
“Napoli is a very strong team as the league table shows and they have a great coach – the analysis of Fonseca – They are in a good moment, they win and are first, they arrive at San Siro very motivated, but so are we. At the moment they are the strongest, they are one of the teams that can win the championship, like us: the fans must believe in us, we are a strong and growing group, we think we can fight until the end. It was difficult to manage the last few days, after training we didn't know if we would play or not, they were complicated hours. We wanted to play and we were very penalised by the postponement, also because now we have two important players like Theo and Reijnders suspended. The team trained well anyway and I have faith in whoever will take their place. Leao? It's not a problem and it's not a coincidence, we are sure that he will return to being what we expect him to be. Will he be a starter? I don't want to say. Why is he going through this difficult moment? Because the coach doesn't let him play, but for me these are normal situations. When I make my choices I evaluate different aspects".
Milan – Napoli, probable formations
Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Emerson Royal, Thiaw, Pavlovic, Terracciano; Fofana, Loftus-Cheek; Chukwueze, Pulisic, Okafor; Morata
On the bench: Sportiello, Torriani, Calabria, Tomori, Bartesaghi, Jimenez, Musah, Liberali, Zeroli, Leao, Camarda
Coach: Fonseca
Unavailable: Abraham, Jovic, Gabbia, Florenzi, Bennacer
Disqualified: Theo Hernandez, Reijnders
Napoli (4-3-3): Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Buongiorno, Olivera; Anguissa, Gilmour, McTominay; Politano, Lukaku, Kvaratskhelia
On the bench: Caprile, Contini, Turi, Juan Jesus, Marin, Mazzocchi, Folorunsho, Simeone, Ngonge, Neres, Raspadori, Zerbin
Coach: Conte
Unavailable: Spinazzola, Lobotka
Disqualified: none
