Roma midfielder Bryan Cristante will serve a one-match ban against Milan in the second leg of the Europa League quarter-finals, while the Rossoneri must cope without the injured Pierre Kalulu and Simon Kjaer.
Roma and Milan are preparing to meet in the second leg of the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday at the Stadio Olimpico, one week after the Giallorossi’s 1-0 win at San Siro.
Daniele De Rossi and Lorenzo Pellegrini previewed the game at a pre-match press conference on Wednesday. “The only thing about managing the result is to be intelligent, not to go too far. If we are at 0-0 in the last minute, we won’t go looking for a goal,” said the Giallorossi boss.
Roma team news vs. Milan in Europa League
The Giallorossi will be without the suspended Bryan Cristante who is expected to be replaced by Edoardo Bove. Evan Ndicka will rest, but the latest exams undergone by the Ivory Coast international confirmed there were no heart problems for the 24-year-old. Sardar Azmoun is injured, while Dean Huijsen and Rasmus Kristensen are not on Roma’s UEFA list. Chris Smalling and Gianluca Mancini are expected to start as centre-backs and Leonardo Spinazzola is favourite over Angelino on the left flank of defence.
Milan team news vs. Roma in Europa League
Stefano Pioli and Rafael Leao will address the media at a pre-match press conference from the Stadio Olimpico later at 17:45 UK time (GMT+1). Kalulu and Kjaer are injured; Tommaso Pobega trained with the team today but hasn’t played a competitive match since December 17, 2023, so he’s not expected to be available. According to Sky Sport Italia, Matteo Gabbia is favourite over Malick Thiaw for a starting spot in defence alongside Fikayo Tomori, while in-form Samuel Chukwueze will likely start on the bench, making room for Rafael Leao, Christian Pulisic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek behind Olivier Giroud. Mike Maignan has been training with the team for the last two days, so he’ll start in goal after missing Sunday’s 3-3 draw against Sassuolo.
Beware of yellow cards
Leandro Paredes and Leonardo Spinazzola are a yellow card away from suspension, so they’ll miss the semis if Roma qualify and they are booked tomorrow. The same is true of Milan’s Davide Calabria, Rafael Leao, Mike Maignan and Yunus Musah.