Official: Slovan Bratislava vs. AC Milan starting XIs – Seven changes in Slovakia | OneFootball

AC Milan face a big test this evening against Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League, and Paulo Fonseca has named a heavily rotated XI from the weekend’s draw against Juventus.

After the draw at the weekend, Milan must return to winning ways. The race for the Scudetto now seems a step too far away, at least for now, and the Champions League spots are becoming distanced. Therefore, a positive run in the competition is needed, to keep fans on the side mainly.

Aside from fan relations, the club could also pocket a pretty penny from advancing further in the competition, so Fonseca must do everything in his power to try and reach the top eight qualifying spots.

From the weekend, Emerson Royal, Matteo Gabbia, Malick Thiaw, Yunus Musah, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Rafael Leao and Alvaro Morata all miss out. The Brazilian suffered a knock, as did Leao, but it seems this isn’t the reason for his absence, and of course, Morata is suspended.

In their places, Davide Calabria returns to right-back, and Fikayo Tomori will partner Strahinja Pavlovic to make up the back four. The front four is fully changed, Samuel Chukwueze and Noah Okafor will operate on the wings, whilst Christian Pulisic will roam behind Tammy Abraham.

Official Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Tomori, Pavlovic, Theo Hernandez; Fofana, Reijnders; Chukwueze, Pulisic, Okafor; Abraham.

Bench: Sportiello, Torriani, Loftus-Cheek, Rafa Leao, Emerson Royal, Thiaw, Terracciano, Gabbia, Camarda, Musah.

Official Slovan Bratislava XI (3-4-3): Takac; Kashia, Bajric, Voet; Blackman, Kucka, Savvidis, Medvedev; Barseghyan, Strelec, Metsoko

Bench: Trnovsky, Hrdina, Tolic, Marcelli, Mustafic, Mak, Zuberu, Pauschek, Gajdos, Vojtko, Szoke, Ihnatenko.