CM: How Bartesaghi convinced Allegri and his possible ‘new’ role amid Estupinan’s return

Pervis Estupinan is expected to recover for the Roma game, but Davide Bartesaghi will make him fight to win his spot back.

Milan were held to back-to-back draws against Pisa and Atalanta, allowing Napoli to overtake them at the top of the table. Numerous injury absences have significantly hampered a short squad, featuring many young players making their first experience with a major European club.

On Sunday, Roma arrive at San Siro, buoyed by their strong start in the league. As Calciomercato.com report, Massimiliano Allegri will be without two key players in Adrien Rabiot and Christian Pulisic for the fourth consecutive game. Estupinan, however, is back from a sprained left ankle.

A doubt on the left

Estupinan will return to training with the team tomorrow after nearly two weeks off. The former Brighton wing-back will be available for the game against the Giallorossi, although he’s expected to remain on the bench, at least initially.

Part of this is because Allegri and his staff don’t want to risk anything in an already delicate part o the season, with a string of upcoming fixtures and many players injured or not fully fit. That’s why the battle with Bartesaghi will be open until just hours before the match.

Estupinan’s suspension (he missed Juventus-Milan due to a red card against Napoli) allowed Bartesaghi to steal the show with several good performances, both technically and in terms of maturity at a young age.

Photos: Marco Luzzani + Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images

The Milan academy graduate boasts very high percentages for both accurate passes (84%) and duels won (54%). The teenager has faced players like Conceiçao, Dodo, Zappacosta and Bellanova already and has not been overawed.

On Tuesday night in the 1-1 draw against Atalanta, another very interesting observation emerged: Bartesaghi was the best Milan player in the game in finding vertical passing lanes that bypassed the opposition’s lines of pressure.

Bartesaghi is benefitting from Allegri’s faith, who wanted to keep him around despite loan requests. The feeling is that he could eventually play as a centre-back in the three-man line. There’s no room for experimentation at this stage, but Bartesaghi’s tactical evolution is a concrete possibility.