It is no secret that Gasperini's Atalanta gave Milan some brutal defeats in recent years. But the question always was, what would he do at a bigger club? Well, so far, this season, he has done quite well, despite that club being Roma, who never win anything anyway. Coming into this match just four points behind Milan on the table and sitting in fourth place, Gasperini made it no secret this week that he was focused on this match even before their Europa League match on Thursday. While Milan did manage to defeat Roma 1-0 in November, Allegri knows this will be a very tough match. Gasperini may be cunning like a fox, but this time, he is a fox in wolf's clothing.
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| The team will have to be united and to beware of the fox amongst the wolves. |
Ranieri hand-picked Gasperini to take the Roma job, and he did well for the Giallorossi. Despite the distraction of this match, Roma were able to win 2-0 over Stuttgart on Thursday in the Europa League, following their 2-0 win over Torino on Sunday. For the Stuttgart match, Gasperini lined up a 3-4-2-1 with: Svilar; Çelik, Ziólkowski, Ghilardi; Rensch, Pisilli, Koné, Tsimikas; Soulé, Pellegrini, and Ferguson. He was able to rest a number of starters, such as Dybala, Ndicka, Cristante, and Mancini, giving them fewer minutes so they would be rested for our match. However, he is missing Schuurs, Gineitis, Aboukhlal, Simeone, and likely Ilić to injury.
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| Will the fox be able to take points off of Allegri's Milan? |
Allegri is still forced to play players who are not 100%, because he has no depth on his bench, literally not enough players in his squad. While Santi Gimenez is the only one officially on the injury list, several are basically playing as the walking wounded, and in an ideal world would not start. That includes Saelemaekers, who, although he returned to training this week, suffered a muscle injury last week vs. Lecce. We all know what happens to Allegri players carrying injuries like this who start, yet he is rumored to be the one to start against the team he was on loan to last season, because winning.
Pavlović is anxious to return after his face was split open and he had to have nine stitches, but reports are that De Winter is still likely to start. Modrić will also likely return to the starting lineup, after being rested for 80 minutes last week. Ricci has reportedly earned a start ahead of Loftus-Cheek or Fofana, but we will see if that is just journalistic idealism or if Allegri actually does finally trust him. Up front, he is rumored to start Leão and Nkunku, allowing Pulisic and Füllkrug to be available as super subs.
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| Will Gasperini out fox Gasperini? |
In his press conference, Allegri spoke of the dangers of this match, and he used the phrase "zitti e buoni," which basically translates to "shut up and be good." That may have also been a bit of a subliminal message for Gasperini, who is known for running his mouth. Or maybe it was a reminder for himself to keep his own temper in check. But mostly, it was likely a message for his own players, who need to put their heads down, focus, and play their best match. Because Gasperini will definitely have prepared his team for their best match. He is a fox in wolf's clothing.
This post inspired by the music of Måneskin's "Zitti e Buoni"