MN: Bennacer’s return a bright spot in Juventus draw – now he looks to the derby | OneFootball

There weren’t an abundance of positives during last night’s 0-0 draw against Juventus, but the return of Ismael Bennacer was certainly a brighter note.

Having returned prematurely from the African Cup of Nations due to the unexpected elimination of Algeria in the group stages, Bennacer came on in the 61st in place of Brahim Diaz. MilanNews writes how he recovered a lot of balls in his stint on the field and he tried to drive the attack forward to break the deadlock, but wasn’t quite at his best.

The Algerian will have to work hard to be 100% for the match against Inter on February 6th, of course presuming that Franck Kessie is not available, but the change last night might be a sign that he has jumped above Tiémoué Bakayoko in the pecking order already.

Pioli preferred to play Rade Krunic from the first minute yesterday against Juventus because of condition, but the derby against Inter on February 6 represents one of the last opportunities to stay in the running for the Scudetto and it could well be that Bennacer is relied upon from the start.

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