Milan-Torino Preview: No Room for Error

Allegri puts on his creepy smile in front of the press and tells everyone that everything is okay, but Leao's anger during and after the loss to Lazio said more than any of the Mister's calculated words ever could. Tensions are high, too much has been asked of certain players, and the team are not nearly as united as Allegri would have us believe. So many people have been speculating about the title race that they have forgotten to look in the rear view mirror, and that battle for top four is coming for us. Fast. As Milan are set to host Torino at the San Siro on Saturday evening, they need to pull together and find a way to return to winning ways, because there is no room for error.

That smile... the false bravado... now it's time to do that thing where he drags the team to qualification.

As Allegri pointed out in his prematch press conference, Torino have been doing well since the appointment of Roberto D'Aversa as manager last month. They sit in 14th place, but have won two of their last three matches. Their most recent win was a 4-1 destruction of Parma last week. For that match, D'Aversa lined up a 3-4-1-2 with: former Milan youth goalkeeper Paleari; Coco, Ismajli, Ebosse; Pedersen, Ilkhan, Gineitis, Obrador, Vlašić; Giovanni Simeone, and Ché Adams. Torino will be without Njie and Aboukhlal for this match due to injuries.

Torino have that new coach smell.

In the neverending saga of one step forward, however many steps back that is Milan's injury status, Santi Gimenez will finally be available for selection in this match, though undoubtedly from the bench after being out for so long. However, Leão had more pain in his right adductor and did not train on Friday, so will not be available for this one. And while both Gabbia and Loftus-Cheek are both hoping to be available after the break (the latter with what I'm sure will be some kind of fabulous protective mask–I'm thinking Silence of the Lambs-esque,) they are both definitely still out for this match. 

Rabiot returns from suspension, so Allegri will likely start with Füllkrug and Pulisic up front, and the usual starters everywhere else. Bartesaghi is also expected to resume his starting position ahead of Estupiñan. We still have four players in danger of suspension, this time, it is Saelemaekers, Fofana, Modrić, and Athekame. Considering our next match after the break is vs. Napoli, they will all want to be very careful in this match not to be cautioned.

The return of Rabiot will be very helpful, but Milan will still need to maintain focus.

Allegri's big thing is numbers and math. He tries to say that other teams, individual matches do not matter, and tries to maintain focus on his calculations of how many points Milan will need to qualify for the Champions League this year. And no one actually likes math. But he is right to alert the fans and the club that Milan are in danger of not making their objective of Champions League qualification should they continue to lose focus. Which, translated for the rest of us, means Napoli are just one point behind us, and Como, Juve, and Roma are not far behind them. So it's not yet time to panic, but also, there's no room for error.

This post inspired by the music of Billie Eilish's "No Time to Die"

Check out the latest Milan Obsession Podcast celebrating 15 Years of Milan Obsession

Our next match is:

Campionato Primavera 1 Week 31

Juventus Primavera vs Milan Primavera

Saturday, March 21, 2026 • 13:00 CET (8am EST*)

*Note the time difference, due to U.S. Daylight Savings Time

Serie A Week 30

Milan vs. Torino

Saturday, March 21, 2026 • 18:00 CET (1pm EST*)

In the U.S., this match can be streamed for free on DAZN (in Spanish,) or on Paramount+,

or use a VPN to access better coverage

*Note the time difference, due to U.S. Daylight Savings Time 

Serie D Week 28

Milan Futuro vs. Nuova Sondrio

Sunday, March 22, 2026 • 14:30 CET (9:30am EST*)

*Note the time difference, due to U.S. Daylight Savings Time