The San Siro will host its second game in the space of 24 hours as Milan and Juve lock horns in the first leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final. The stadium played host to the Derby della Madonnina on Sunday night, and was also the venue for the first Coppa clash between Inter and Napoli, a game surprisingly won 1-0 by the visitors.
Milan and Juve both suffered setbacks in the league over the weekend. The Rossoneri lead 2-0 at the interval against Inter, putting in what many fans thought was their best half of the season, but crumbled after the break to crash to a 4-2 defeat against their bitter rivals, bringing back memories of their horrible second half capitulation against Atalanta back in December.
Juve were shocked 2-1 by Hellas Verona, and there’s a growing feeling in Italy that Maurizio Sarri’s team are not as strong as some of their predecessors this decade. The loss to Verona, coupled with Inter’s win, saw the Bianconeri cede top spot in the table to Antonio Conte’s side. It’s not quite crisis time in Turin yet, but a defeat here will see the pressure on Sarri increase, amidst rumours that the board have approached former coach Max Allegri for talks regarding a potential return.
Juventus have been highly dependent on Cristiano Ronaldo for goals. The Portuguese superstar earns more than any other player in Turin- he can buy 213 houses a year with his salary there but has been worth every penny of it so far, and the Bianconeri will again be counting on him if they’re to beat the Rossoneri. He scored Juve’s solitary goal against Verona, making it the 10th consecutive league game that he’s found the back of the net, and already has 20 goals in 20 Serie A games this season.
This game also sees another old rivalry resume- Ronaldo against Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Despite both players being on the wrong side of 30, they remain their respective sides’ most influential players, and this will be their first meeting in four and a half years, having last clashed in November 2015 in the Champions League.
Juve have won their last nine games against Milan in all competitions- another feat that illustrates the latter’s slow decline this decade.
H2H- last five games
Juve 1-0 Milan
Juventus 2-1 Milan
Juventus 1-0 Milan
Milan 0-2 Juventus
Juventus 4-0 Milan
As seen above, the Rossoneri have scored only once in their last five meetings against the Old Lady, but this Juve side isn’t as solid on defence- unlike previous seasons, there is a vulnerability at the back that can be exploited by good attacking teams.
Both teams will have some worries over the state of the San Siro pitch, given how heavily it’s been used over the last few days, but hopefully we won’t see any major injuries.
The referee for this game is Paolo Valeri and Milan are undefeated in their their last five games across all competitions under him. Valeri however did referee this very game in the league back in October 2017- Juve emerged 2-0 victors on that occasion.