Coppa Italia Semifinal • Milan-Juventus Preview: React



This first leg of the Coppa Italia Semifinal will be a chance for teams to react. Both teams faced painful defeats on the weekend, although Juve had 23 more points than Verona going into their loss, whereas Milan were 19 points behind Inter going into the Derby. So there should definitely be more shame for Juventus. However, will more shame bring a greater reaction?

Which team are the biggest losers?

Juventus were defeated 2-1 on Saturday by ex-Milan players Borini and Pazzini, cancelling out a Cristiano Ronaldo goal. Actually, Pazzini’s goal was a penalty, conceded by another ex-Milan player, Bonucci. For that match, Sarri lined up Szczesny; Cuadrado, de Ligt, Bonucci, Sandro; Bentancur, Pjanic, Rabiot; Costa, Higuain, and Ronaldo. Sarri is still missing Demiral, who is out for the season. Costa was injured Saturday and will miss, as will Bernardeschi and Khedira. Chiellini is still not ready to return after his long injury.

Pioli faces the daunting task of finding morale after a crushing Derby loss on Sunday. Even if Inter were favored on paper, our first half was amazing, and our second half was the opposite of amazing. Even with Ibrahimovic, he will be lucky to find the courage to play for a miracle in this match.

Current mood?

Pioli will be missing Duarte and Krunic to injury. While Conti will be suspended in the league match this coming Monday, he will be available for this Coppa Italia match. The other question that we must always ask is whether or not Pioli will give a chance to Begovic or Antonio Donnarumma, as is tradition in the Coppa Italia. He did not risk either of them in our victory against Torino, so Gigio could be called upon once again.

Juventus’ wage bill is more than two and a half times Milan’s wage bill. Meaning Milan are not really meant to win this at all. Our only hope is that playing at home, in front of 70,000 fans creates some kind of miracle to give us an advantage before we head to Turin for the second leg on March fourth. The result of this match will be largely determined by which team finds the most capability to react.


This post inspired by the music of Depeche Mode’s “World Full of Nothing”


Coppa Italia Semifinal, First Leg
Milan vs. Juventus
Thursday, February 13 • 20:45 CET (2:45pm EST)
This match can be streamed LIVE on ESPN+

Coppa Italia Semifinal • Milan-Juventus Preview: React Coppa Italia Semifinal • Milan-Juventus Preview: React Reviewed by Elaine on 1:22 AM Rating: 5
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