The five key battles that could win or lose the game for Milan against Fiorentina | OneFootball

Ninth host eighth at San Siro tonight as AC Milan welcome Fiorentina in Serie A, with three points an absolute necessity for both teams.

There is talk in the Italian media this morning of this being the ‘last train for Europe’ given that Milan are nine points behind fourth place and even eight points off the Europa League spot. In truth it feels like the train left some time ago, but the team must keep fighting.

Fiorentina are one place but four points above the Rossoneri in the table and as a result there are much more in the battle for the top four. They have a bit more rest in their legs too, given that there was a Coppa Italia semi-final first leg for Sergio Conceicao’s side in midweek.

The five key battles

Fiorentina’s main threat is definitely Moise Kean. It could be a landmark night for the striker given that he currently has 199 appearances and 99 wins in the ‘top five’ European leagues. He could become the third player born in the 2000s to be directly involved in at least 20 goals in a single Serie A season (16G+3A so far), after Dusan Vlahovic and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

His opponent has a big night ahead of him: Fikayo Tomori. Reports this morning are stating that the English defender will be summoned from the darkness having been left out almost entirely in the last few weeks, and should get the nod alongside Malick Thiaw. It would be another centre-back pairing change, a theme for Milan, but a new chance to impress.

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Speaking of a change in roles, Christian Pulisic is tipped to play as an attacking midfielder. He has nine goals scored and six assists provided in Serie A this season, and could become the second American player to reach double figures for goals in two different seasons in the big five European leagues in the 2000s (12 goals in 2023-24), after Clint Dempsey.

It is expected that Nicolò Fagioli will be the anchorman in Fiorentina’s midfield three. He arrived from Juventus in the January mercato and has four starts to his name, and tonight he faces the difficult task of keeping tabs on Pulisic’s dangerous movement while also being the leader in the build-up phase.

After being benched in four of his last eight Serie A games, Rafael Leao is expected to get the nod against La Viola in his usual left wing role. He started against Inter on Wednesday night too and showed flashes but not much more, though Fiorentina are one of his favourite opponents with four goals and one assist in six games against them to this point.

Leao should come up against Marin Pongracic, who joined the Florence-based side from Lecce last summer and has so far made just eight starts and 12 appearances. The 27-year-old Croatian seems to be in favour under Raffaele Palladino at the moment, though he might need help from those around him to ensure he doesn’t get left in isolation.

Tammy Abraham is the man currently expected to lead the line for Milan, and it serves as proof that at the moment he is the No.1 in the striker hierarchies, despite the over €30m spent on Santiago Gimenez in the winter mercato. The Englishman now has eight goals and his latest was his second against Inter, giving the Diavolo the lead in the first leg three days ago.

Photo by Sara Cavallini/AC Milan via Getty Images

There was the prospect of seeing Abraham come up against reported transfer target Pietro Comuzzo, though it should actually be Pablo Mari who plays in the middle of a three-man defence for La Viola. The Spaniard was brought in from former club Monza by Palladino, and he has slotted straight into the side.

Finally, we end with a duel on Milan’s left side between Theo Hernandez and Dodo. As has been spoken about at length, Theo simply isn’t having a season anywhere near his usual levels, and yet there is still some belief that he could finish the campaign strong and show what made him one of the best in the world in his position.

On the flip side, nobody has more starts for Fiorentina this season across all competitions than Dodo (34). He has amassed over 3,000 minutes (3,092) and is the only one to break that barrier, with four assists to his name. It will be a real back-and-forth battle down that flank given how both like to operate in every third.