Champions League, (third) last call. The long weekend of the 36th day begins, among which, inevitably, everything that leads to the Europe that matters stands out. In this sense, today's Saturday really has a lot to say: leaving out Cagliari-Lazio (18 pm), in fact, Atalanta-Genoa (15 pm) and Fiorentina-Milan (20.30 pm) could prove to be decisive, in one sense or another, the whole with Roma-Juventus (tomorrow evening) and Inter-Chievo (Monday) in the background. With three days to go, each point could prove to be decisive, even if it is clear that the calendar, at this point of the season, weighs a lot, if not a lot, on the economy of the race. “With 5 points we would be mathematically ahead of Turin, with 6 against Roma, with 7 against Milan: we can be in everything or out of everything – Gasperini's analysis. – For this reason, Saturday is fundamental against a team looking for points for salvation ".
The Nerazzurri coach's calculations confirm the importance of today's match, for Atalanta and for all their rivals. Ultra-interested spectator, of course, Milan, who will take the field in Florence already knowing the result in Bergamo. It is clear that a misstep by the current fourth would gas the Rossoneri a lot but the substance does not change: at the Franchi there is only one result available. “We have to think about doing our thing, we have a very difficult match, we haven't won in Florence since 2014 – commented Gattuso. – They can create many dangers for us, tomorrow we have to play a great match on a mental and physical level. It's true that they haven't won for a long time, but Montella's team has quality and can always create problems”. However, with all due respect to Fiorentina, Milan's real enemy seems to be Milan itself. The internal tensions continue to be talked about and the victory against Bologna, if possible, even ended up increasing them. But the Rossoneri coach knows that the problems, in the end, always arise from the results and that regaining the Champions League area, or at least holding on to it, would set things right again.
“The victory against Bologna took a bit of a backseat, there was more talk of the Bakayoko issue, which we then clarified in the locker room – confirmed Gattuso. – I don't know what we have more than the others, I know that we will give everything in these last three games because we want to play it until the end. We have to think only about what we do, not waste energy looking at other fields. The biggest regret is that of having lost so many points along the way in the moments where we could have accelerated, but we still want to try". In short, all for one and one for all, at least in words. We'll see if the pitch will confirm, however in the meantime the coach has decided to forgive Bakayoko and certainly not for his apology, which was never fully received: the absences of the injured Biglia and the suspended (until the end of the championship) Paquetà weigh heavily and the Champions goal makes the Frenchman indispensable.
Al Franchi will be 4-3-3 with Donnarumma in goal, Abate, Musacchio, Romagnoli and Rodriguez in defence, Kessié, Bakayoko and Calhanoglu in midfield, Suso, Piatek and Borini in attack. Montella, determined to take revenge on the team that, a year and a half ago, sacked him precisely to take Gattuso, will try to get his first victory on the Viola bench (so far, for him, only one draw and three defeats) with the same system of the game, with Lafont between the posts, Milenkovic, Ceccherini, Vitor Hugo and Biraghi in the back department, Benassi, Edimilson and Gerson in the midfield, Chiesa, Muriel and Mirallas in the offensive trident.
