Bologna-Milan Preview: Old Friends

Gattuso and Pippo Inzaghi are old friends. They won trophies together, they even retired together. But tonight they will meet for the first time as coaches that are also opponents in Serie A. Inzaghi is coaching for his job, and Gattuso is coaching for redemption, with whispers once again that his job is on the line as well. Neither has lost their seemingly endless amount of passion that they exhibited as players, but only one can possibly win. So it will be interesting to see which coach comes out on top at the end of 90 minutes.

They even said goodbye together

Bologna are in deep trouble. They sit in 17th place on the table with only two wins, five draws and eight losses. It’s so bad that earlier this week, fans left three crosses, each with the name of one of the directors of Bologna on it. While police are investigating what is being considered a death threat, it has done nothing for the morale of the team. Nor would losing to Milan do anything for morale, either. Especially if Inzaghi gets sacked after losing to his former club.

Bologna’s most recent defeat was last week, a 2-1 loss away to Empoli. For that match, Inzaghi lined up a 3-5-2 of Skorupski; Gonzalez, Danilo, Helander; Orsolini, Nagy, Poli, Mattiello, Krejci; Santander and Palacio. It seems that he is missing Pulgar to injury, but should have a full squad to choose from otherwise.

Suso apparently amazed to be back from a minor injury

Gattuso’s side are sitting tentatively in fourth place again after Lazio lost yesterday. And for once, despite having Strinic, Caldara, Biglia, and Bonaventura out to long term injuries, we have some good news on the injury front: Musacchio, Romagnoli, and Suso are all fit and included in the squad for this game. Whether or not Gattuso will start them remains to be seen, but it is still comforting to know they are available.

Frenemies

It will be fun to watch two old teammates battling it out. Their passion and incredible work ethic will be conflicting with their strong friendship as they meet. But both are also very competitive and have killer instincts when it comes to football. Now it remains to be seen if they can instill those same characteristics into their respective teams. If so, it may not just be a match between old friends.

This post inspired by the music of Peaches and Herb’s “Reunited”

Serie A week 16

Bologna vs. Milan

Tuesday, December 18 • 20:30 CET (2:30pm EST)

This match can be streamed LIVE on ESPN+ in the U.S.