GdS: Leao vs. Yildiz, last Scudetto train – Six reasons Milan-Juve promises to be beautiful | OneFootball

Club football is back with a bang as AC Milan are up against Juventus this evening, hoping to keep their Scudetto dream alive. Currently, they are hanging on by a thread and for this clash, there are six things to point out.

Today’s edition of Gazzetta dello Sport (see photo below), on the front page as well as on a dedicated page, focuses on six reasons to win the clash. Indeed, in addition to key player battles, the managers will also try to outsmart each other this evening.

Can we call it a Scudetto game?

For Milan, there is no doubt that this is a Scudetto game, the last train to catch in the race. Even with a win tonight, they will have 21 points and that is lower than each of the last four seasons at this stage of the season (minimum 23).

A painful defeat, like the one against Napoli at San Siro, risks bringing the gap from the top into double figures. In that scenario, not even a miracle would be enough to come back and lift the trophy at the end of the season.

It’s true that the Rossoneri have the match in Bologna in hand, but virtual gaps weigh as much as the real ones psychologically and finding themselves out of the Scudetto race already in November would poison the rest of the season.

A defeat would hurt Juve less, but it would be the first of the season and a psychological backlash for a young team that vibrates more than the experienced ones. Thiago Motta is looking for a victory of personality to give further awareness to a growing team.

The response Fonseca must provide

Without a doubt, he needs to show solid defensive resistance. Milan have conceded double the goals of Juve (14-7), in Cagliari they compromised the result due to a series of blunders in man-marking. Gabbia is back, who is a guarantee of attention. Thiaw should be alongside him, even if Tomori – the fastest of all – would seem more suitable against an attack that won’t have a physical reference (Vlahovic) but many quick players.

Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images

In Madrid, the Rossoneri were well protected by the retreat of Yunus Musah, five at the back, a move that Fonsecadoesn’t want to replicate in the name of a more dominant football. So: maximum concentration in marking (Theo…) is needed, because Juve showed Inter how much they can hurt on the counterattack.

The response Motta must provide

The Juventus coach has lost Vlahovic. The replacement which seemed obvious, Timothy Weah, was questioned in the tests of the eve. Weston McKennie is a candidate who often finds himself close to the centre forward, due to his instinct to break into the box.

The Texan would allow to strengthen the pressing and gain superiority in the middle. A third hypothesis, on the rise, includes McKennie and Koopmeiners in line between the wings: 4-2-4. Dense midfield and McKennie who doubles on Leao.

Thiago has locked himself in the laboratory. Of course, to strengthen his ambitions for the Scudetto, he will have to distil a better attacking phase: 5th attack of the tournament, 10 goals less than his maestro Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta)

Who will dominate?

These are two teams that are educated to dominate and attack. Juventus (62) and Milan (45) are the two teams that have produced the most sequences of at least 10 passes, ending with a shot or a touch in the area.

This means that, by tactical constitution, they want to move up the field with the ball at their feet. For Juve, it is a revolution. Thiago was hired for this, to connect the many individual excellences with a collective idea that has been missing in the last three years.

Pioli had a game (and even one worthy of a Scudetto), but Fonseca has thickened the ball possession anyway, delaying the verticality of his predecessor. Let’s imagine a virtuous fight to conquer the centre of the ring and also an elegant battle: Reijnders-Koopmeiners.

The Milan player is in a powerful phase of growth, both technically and personally. The Juventus player has already made the team grow around him, but he hasn’t yet taken control and is looking for his first goal in black and white.

Who will fly on the flanks?

The two coaches talked about the flanks. They know that there are many possibilities for victory there. Milan have long been dependent on the award-winning left flank (Theo-Leao). The right flank is more liquid, also because Pulisic is not at his best. Will he grit his teeth with Loftus-Cheek in the centre of the trident? Or as an attacking midfielder with Chukwueze on the right?

In case he starts on the bench, Chukwueze will play wide and Loftus-Cheek in the centre. Morata, the only No.9 on the pitch, will play against his past: 4 years in black and white and 59 goals that made his children become Juventus fans. This summer, he could have become the vice-Vlahovic who Thiago now misses so much.

Photo by AC Milan

What Conceiçao and Yildiz did at San Siro against Inter is remembered by everyone, including Fonseca, of course, who will have already sown preventive moves. Milan and Juve will challenge each other with real attacking wingers and will push forward with the full-backs: most of all Theo and Cambiaso. This fact also reinforces the suspicion of a spectacular match.

Leao or Yildiz, who will be decisive?

Whether or not it is due to Fonseca’s Siberian education, Leao is experiencing a magical moment. He enchanted the Bernabeu, was decisive in Cagliari and also scored for the national team. From memory, it is difficult to find four good games in a row from the Portuguese winger.

In fact, we have to go back to the year of the Scudetto. If he confirmed the magic in such a delicate match for Milan, one might suspect the long-awaited leap in maturity.

The little prince Yildiz is also looking for confirmation, in the same cathedral of San Siro where he was crowned after the brace against Inter. Among the players in the top 5 leagues who have already scored 3 goals, only one is younger than Kenan (19 years old): Yamal (17).

In 2024, furthermore, no one has succeeded with more dribbles than Leao: 74. They are the stars of an evening that smells of the Scudetto.