There is mixed news for Milan, as while Zlatan Ibrahimovic avoids serious injury and could play against Inter, Franck Kessie needs to be evaluated after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations.
The Rossoneri have seen their campaign dominated by injury problems and COVID-19, though the treatment table finally seems to be clearing a little.
Serie A is currently on a break and will return with the Derby della Madonnina, as well as a top of the table showdown, on Saturday February 5.
MilanNews, Calciomercato.com and others report that the latest check-up on Ibrahimovic has ruled out lesions to the Achilles tendon in his right leg.
That means it was only a strain caused by the state of the San Siro turf that forced the 40-year-old off against Juventus.
He could therefore recover in time for the Milan Derby.
Meanwhile, the Ivory Coast were knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations at the Round of 16 after losing a penalty shoot-out to Egypt.
Kessie only lasted 29 minutes of that match today, as he went off with bruised ribs and hip following a knock.
He will therefore return to Italy this week and have tests to ascertain the extent of the damage, although Milan medical staff are already in contact with their Ivorian counterparts to discuss the situation.
#Milan , niente lesione per #Ibrahimovic : infiammazione al tendine, si lavora per il derby https://t.co/9QdCBhJLjB pic.twitter.com/NDP4BFuQpa
— calciomercato.com (@cmdotcom) January 26, 2022
LOL.
The real fans don’t want those two there.
Drop Brahim and play Rebic behind Giroud with LEAO on left and pick any of the right wing losers becaue they’re all as bad as each other.
Bye Ibra
Bye Frank
Bye Samu (is he even still there?! What happened to him?)
If we are not signing anyone to play ahead of Diaz, then a change in formation might not be a bad idea. 4-4-2 maybe?
Diaz has had half a season to regain form. He’s not gonna. Inter match is his last chance, otherwise it’s better to either play another player there or change the formation.
That’s smart. Milan are relying on these 2, a grandpa who now gets injured every time he run’s and a player who is already out the door.
Brahim had several chances, Maldini about 2
And Giroud seems to have forgotten how to score goals. They would have won 1-0 vs Juve if Giroud would have remembered how to head the ball instead of being an unselfish clown.
@Milan Fan. How effective are Leao and Messias going to be further back? Not at all. The no brainer change would be to 4-3-3, with Leao and Messias or whatever RW basically playing in the same position but with our three best CMs on at the same time: Tonali, Bennacer and Kessie, with probably Tonali being in the middle and a little deeper.
@Gman, yeah that one chance at the back post where all Giroud had to do was basically turn his head direct the ball into the net. Unbelievable.
Either way it does not matter. Having seen the Milan vs Juve game there is nothing to fear. The scudetto has already been wrapped up and just keeping warm in the oven. Inter will win the title by maybe even double digits as Milan are not strong enough to win. With a few more additions, and high quality ones in every department they certainly can challenge properly. Given their budget what they have done so far has been impressive.
Let’s not forget the last game he played before going to Africa, Pioli lined Kessie up behind the CF and he/team played real well, its a shame, I would have expected him there vs Inter if he was healthy, ugh
There is no urgency at Milan to win the Scudetto this season – it’s evident. Elliott is content with Top4 finish for a year or two, until the stadium goes through or there’s a buyer. There are no reinforcements and we can’t even cash in on Kessie. So keep expectations low this season.
@ACM1899 finally someone who actually talk some sense. Milan in the CL was a good example of their level. Milan fans seems to think their owners actually want to win the league but then forget they don’t have any and they were supposed to find a proper owner but the media keep focusing on Inter who actually have a wealthy owners even though they do have restrictions. The stadium part is the political mess for years in Milan and will never happen unless both Milan and Inter do something like refusing to play in the old one. Other than Leicester who did have a stable owner winning a major league by chance is almost as rare as spotting a unicorn in the streets. Milan actually depends on Ibra wether for motivation or actually goals but in any top club that would be UNACCEPTABLE which shows exactly that Milan top priority is and will be qualifying for the CL.
I’d play Rebic up front with the 3 behind him. We could do with someone to stretch a defence and Ibra is not that person.