“It’s not the Milan of old”… but beware…
Celtic look to dust off the cobwebs of Saturday’s woeful result, with a positive start to their Europa League campaign, at home to AC Milan.
The club was dealt a tough hand when the names were pulled out of the hat, almost three weeks ago now. AC Milan, Lille and Sparta Prague were the teams drawn, all from Celtic prior being named in Pot 1. Surprisingly, out of the four teams, Celtic are the sole team in the group who aren’t topping their domestic league. All three have started on the front foot and mirror each other in form, with all being two points ahead of second place in the Italian, French and Czech premier divisions respectively.
Despite the tough draw, many were quick to talk down the ability of the red and black half of Milan. A foolish stance. Their squad may not be dripping with the best of the best of their era, like that of the mid-00s team with the likes of Maldini, Seedorf and Kaka. Nonetheless, a huge club in their own right is never far away from success, and this season may prove to be the year it clicks for them. The squad brimmed to the top with first class talent, here’s some names to look out for.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic:
At 39, many may have called a day on their careers, but not Zlatan. With two goals in the Milan derby at the weekend, which was his first outing since a two week COVID isolation, the veteran striker certainly isn’t showing any signs of stopping.
Theo Hernandez:
The Frenchman comes from a long line of footballing blood. His father, Jean-François, had a long career in his native France. The younger brother of Lucas Hernandez at Bayern. Theo Hernandez is a left back, with electric pace to show. He may only be 23 but with a long term, Real Madrid youth career behind him, he plays like that of those 10 years his senior.
Sandro Tonali:
At just 20, Tonali has broke onto the scene in his native Italy. Racking up 88 appearances in three years for Brescia. Milan seems to be his big break and many are awaiting his maiden outing in a European competition. He may well be given the nod in midfield, although the talented holding midfielder faces stiff competition to earn a starting role.
Talking Tactics.
Milan, post lockdown, have adopted a 4-2-3-1 setup. Stefano Pioli’s men look to have slotted into the system with no issues. According to James Pearce at SerieAanalysis.com the club like to play a high pressing game. The tactics mirror that of an almost Brendan Rodgers esque ethos and way of playing. Young players have been getting their fair share of game time when first team players are unavailable. Milan’s shape causes a deep headache for Lennon and his bhoys as the 3-5-2 formation, just looks to be far too risky against, arguably a superior side. Expect Lennon to go somewhat defensive minded and perhaps go man to man in a plan B situation with a 4-2-3-1.
In squad news for the Scottish champions. They are still without star man Odsonne Edouard, who continues to try to regain full fitness after contracting COVID-19. As seen from the Celtic social media platforms yesterday, Edouard is taking part in team training sessions. Neil Lennon was vocal yesterday in saying that Edouard would play no part in tonight’s match, and has further said that the Frenchman may be a doubt for Sunday’s league match with Aberdeen.
As for Ryan Christie, the midfielder trained for the first time with the squad yesterday after he was forced to self isolate due to Scotland teammate, ex-Celt and long time friend of Christie’s, Stuart Armstrong testing positive while they were away on international duty.
On the front of Bitton and Elhamed, all has remained somewhat hush hush, in regards to their return with both players still with around 4 days left of isolation to complete so are certainly out for tonight’s game and the game at the weekend. Elhamed has been vocal on this very site when he started how he had troubling breathing in the early parts of his COVID experience. Perhaps don’t be surprised if he doesn’t feature for a while yet. [Read More Here]
As for injuries, James Forrest still remains out. Both Mikey Johnston and Christopher Jullien continue to work their way back to full fitness. The French national, Jullien, seemingly just not quite there as of yet in regards to dusting off niggling knocks from training. Johnston is allegedly back training and looks as if he’ll be sure to feature in the coming weeks.
Line-up prediction:
Barkas
Frimpong Duffy Ajer Laxalt
McGregor Brown
Christie Ntcham Elyounoussi
