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AC Milan will play Lecce for a second time in the new season, this time at San Siro and with a place in the last 16 of the Coppa Italia as the prize.
Milan are not used to participating in the preliminary rounds of the competition, but they eased past Bari last month in their first competitive game of 2025-26 and will be hoping to do the same against on Tuesday night.
Massimiliano Allegri will once again be suspended for the game, this time serving the second of a two-game cup suspension after his outburst in his final game for Juventus, the Coppa Italia final win over Atalanta. He will want to keep the levels high after a positive recent run.
Game date: Tuesday, September 23
Kick-off time: 20:00 (CEST)
Venue: San Siro
Referee: Tremolada (VAR: Maggioni)
Team news
Milan followed up that win against Serie B side Bari by losing to Cremonese in the first league game, which was certainly a shock to the system. However, since then the response could hardly have gone much better.
A 2-0 win over Tuesday’s opponents Lecce away from home was followed by a 1-0 victory against Bologna at home and most recently a 3-0 triumph against Udinese, which was the best performance in some time.
So, Milan come into this one full of confidence, but with half an eye on Sunday’s game against Napoli As a result, there is expected to be some rotation for this game, while hoping to get the job done with minimal fuss.
In terms of selection issues, the only two injured players are Rafael Leao and Ardon Jashari. The former is targeting the game on Sunday after a lengthy calf issue, while the latter should be out until November with a fractured leg.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, numerous changes are expected to try and keep the players fresh. Mike Maignan is back from a one-game injury absence and retakes his place, while Koni De Winter is set for a first start at left centre-back, joining Matteo Gabbia and Fikayo Tomori.
There are three alterations expected across the midfield line. Zachary Athekame is tipped to get the nod for his full debut too in place of Alexis Saelemaekers, while Samuele Ricci and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are expected to take Luka Modric and Adrien Rabiot’s spots.
Youssouf Fofana and Pervis Estupinan both keep their spots after impressive performances against Udinese, therefore, while Christopher Nkunku should come in for Christian Pulisic to partner Santiago Gimenez up front.
Predicted Milan XI (3-5-2): Maignan; Tomori, Gabbia, De Winter; Athekame, Fofana, Ricci, Loftus-Cheek, Estupinan; Nkunku, Gimenez.
The opponents
Lecce went into the final round of last season unsure of which division they would be playing in this time around, but some last-day drama saw them narrowly avoid the drop.
Our pre-match preview ahead of the league meeting late in August outlined the big changes made during the summer, with the Salentino side aiming to secure their Serie A status by a bit of a bigger margin in 2025-26.
Unfortunately for the Giallorossi, it is not going too well so far. A positive result in round one – a 0-0 draw away against Genoa – has been followed by three defeats in a row. Losing 4-1 at Atalanta was no disgrace, but a 2-1 home loss to Cagliari on Friday felt like a hammer blow against a potential fellow struggler.
So, while the club retain faith in Eusebio Di Francesco – now a bit of a veteran coach in Serie A – the focus remains the league for Lecce. Thus, there will be the weekend’s home game against Bologna in mind.
There are a few changes expected from the team that lost to the Rossoneri just under a month ago. However, the defence is expected to remain largely the same: Falcone, Gabriel, Gaspar and Gallo should all retain spots. However, Kouassi should come in for Veiga, who started at right-back.
In midfield, there are no changes expected, so Kaba, Ramadani and Coulibaly will again be tasked with keeping the Diavolo from ticking. However, there are two changes expected from the frontline which saw no luck on Matchday 2.
Pierotti will start on the right once again. But, Francesco Camarda and Morente are expected to remain on the bench. In their places, at least from that earlier game, Stulic and Sottil should start.
Predicted Lecce XI (4-3-3): Falcone; Kouassi, T. Gabriel, Gaspar, Gallo; Ramadani, A. Sala, Coulibaly; Pierotti, Stulic, Sottil.
Head to head
The cup clash will be the 47th meeting between Milan and Lecce. The head-to-head currently reads 28 wins for the Rossoneri, 15 draws and just two wins for the Apulians. Milan are also way ahead in goals scored at 99 to 42.
A few weeks ago, Milan celebrated a 2-0 win at the Stadio Via del Mare. They were made to wait until the second half to break the deadlock, but they did so with a Ruben Loftus-Cheek header, and then Christian Pulisic made sure of the points late on.
Last season’s Serie A contest was not really much of a contest. Alvaro Morata, Theo Hernandez and Christian Pulisic scored inside six first-half minutes to kill things off nice and early in what was an eventual 3-0 win.
Things were a lot more dramatic in the return game. Nikola Krstovic’s brace put Lecce 2-0 up after an hour, but an own-goal and a brace from Pulisic engineered a remarkable comeback from the Diavolo, one of a few they managed under Sergio Conceicao.
Key facts and stats
➤ The first two matches between the two coaches ended 4-3. The first was won by Allegri, a Lecce-Milan 3-4 in October 2011, with the Rossoneri coming back from 3-0 down; the second was won by Di Francesco in January 2014, a Sassuolo-Milan match, with Berardi scoring four goals for the Neroverdi.
➤ Massimiliano Allegri is the coach who has won the Coppa Italia the most times (5), all with Juventus, and he is also the one who has won the most consecutive editions (4, between 2014/15 and 2017/18), in the same years in which the Livorno coach also won the championship, achieving four consecutive ‘doubles’.
➤ Since joining Milan, Christian Pulisic has scored 34 goals in 104 official matches, including five against Lecce and Falcone (the team and goalkeeper he has scored most against), including the 2-0 win at the Via del Mare in Serie A at the end of August.
➤ Against the Salento side on March 8, in the Rossoneri’s 3-2 win at Lecce, the American scored one of his only two braces in Italy so far (the other against Cagliari on May 11, 2024).
Ones to watch
Christopher Nkunku should start on Tuesday, and he hopes to make a statement on his first start for Milan. The Frenchman has shown signs of inspiration on a few occasions since signing, and if he can grab a goal on his full debut, it would send a message about him and others in the forward department.
Samuele Ricci also has a big chance to make an impact. Since Luka Modric’s arrival, he understandably has had very few chances to perform. However, the Italian is likely to start at San Siro and could display his class once again.
When it comes to the visitors, there are a few players to take note of. Firstly, starting with a familiar face, Riccardo Sottil. The Italian was an uninspiring January signing for the Rossoneri, and he could not contribute much during his time at San Siro.
Generally speaking, many see Wladimiro Falcone as the Giallorossi’s best player, and he could be a difficulty for the Diavolo. The goalkeeper has made three saves per game this season and hopes to increase that figure on Tuesday.
Prediction
Considering the results that have already arrived under Marco Landucci, there should be no fears about a drop in performance on Tuesday night. Instead, things should continue as they have been, with Massimiliano Allegri still being a big part of the preparation.
The 2-0 win away from home should not be too far away from the result here, if at all different, especially with the Giallorossi unlikely to massively change things up. As you’d expect, this should be a comfortable win for the Rossoneri.
Milan 2-0 Lecce
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