It's been a long season, and a good one for Riccardo Montolivo. I'm starting this post with him because we all know he was Fiorentina's captain for 7 seasons. Now he returns to Stadio Artemio Franchi (Fiorentina's stadium) in the Rossoneri's shirt as Milan's sub-captain.
Riccardo Montolivo in Fiorentina
Our toughest series of matches in this
final half of the season starts Sunday at lunchtime with a trip to Firenze to
meet La Viola. Despite being down, they are not out, and they would desperately
like our third place spot. Also, they beat us 3-1 back in November at the San Siro, so they
definitely know how to punish us. Will Milan pull out the win, whether by our
own volition or by our infamous luck? Or will this match finally be our
breaking point?
After Galliani cunningly complained about the
abnormalities of the season due to the Is Arena right as Fiorentina were facing
Cagliari, only 3 points behind us, Fiorentina’s woes actually got worse. First,
they did go to Is Arenas, after all, and they ended up losing
and dropping three precious points. Then they lost Jovetic to injury and
Gonzalo Rodriguez to suspension, too. Ouch. And, of course, Milan pulled off
the win away to Chievo, so here they stand 6 points behind us and without a
couple of key players. Will this be their breaking point?
Milan has a not-so-secret ingredient
we didn’t have in November in Super Mario. Well, that, and Allegri also stopped
tinkering like a compulsive gambler with the lineups. Certainly, those are
significant advantages to the team that failed to defend the San Siro in
November. But on the flip side, we also have Montolivo. Despite him playing very
well for us, and quite consistently, I might add, Fiorentina’s former captain
is coming home for the first time to the fans who hate him for
leaving them for Milan. Needless to say, the expected banners, whistles, and
jeers, as well as the overall emotion for him could prove to upset his game.
As for Allegri, he could have a mostly-full squad
to choose from, including Constant and Niang back from their flu bouts and
hopefully Pazzini back from his injury. It was Pazzini who pulled back one goal
for us and ruined Viviano’s clean sheet back in November. But Allegri is
undoubtedly going to start Balotelli and El Shaarawy up front. Who starts in
that third spot will depend on fitness and whom Allegri trusts, too.
Our midfield is likely to consist of Montolivo,
possibly Ambrosini, and one or two of our utilitarian-but-not-decisive
midfielders. And the defense… well just when you think it’s predictable,
Allegri has a lot of choices. Will Zapata and Constant get their starting spots
back? It’s hard to say. I think we all pray that we won’t see Bonera again, or
Antonini, for that matter. Most anyone else could do a decent job. And of
course, Allegri would have to be crazy or Abbiati injured to start anyone else
ahead of him.
This will be a tough match. They will want to close
the six point gap we’ve managed to put between us, we are still chasing Napoli
for that second place spot. They are missing their talisman in Jovetic, and we…
well, we are still pretty lucky. Both teams are at crucial points in the season
and both will fight to the final whistle for a result. This game could easily
be either team’s breaking point. Hopefully Fiorentina's.
Forza Milan!
And for laughs, check out Robinho making fun of Boateng's new hairstyle today:
Boateng's new hairstyle
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