GdS: Predicted XIs for Milan vs. Bari – Bartesaghi to get the nod by Allegri

AC Milan will be up against Bari in the Coppa Italia tonight and according to a report, Max Allegri will give Davide Bartesaghi the chance from start. 

Due to their final league position in the 2024-25 season, Milan have been forced to enter the Coppa Italia in the preliminaries rather than in the round of 16. As such, their season starts a week earlier than the rivals, facing Bari at San Siro tonight.

For Allegri, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing as the Rossoneri have already played quite a lot of friendlies, while some of the signings have been with the team for a decent amount of time now. In many ways, you could see it as the perfect season starter.

No surprises in the line-up

According to today’s edition of Gazzetta dello Sport (see photo below), Allegri will field a 3-5-2 formation with Alexis Saelemaekers and Davide Bartesaghi as the wing-backs. In other words, it looks like the new signing Pervis Estupinan will start on the bench.

In midfield, new signings such as Luka Modric and Ardon Jashari will also be on the bench, making way for Samuele Ricci, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Youssouf Fofana. The first two impressed a lot during pre-season, so it makes sense.

Up front, meanwhile, the false 9 solution with Rafael Leao looks set to continue. Christian Pulisic will likely play in a role slightly behind him, having recovered from the ankle knock he received in the game against Liverpool.

Predicted Milan XI (3-5-2): Maignan; Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlovic; Saelemaekers, Loftus-Cheek, Ricci, Fofana, Bartesaghi; Pulisic, Leao.

Predicted Milan XI (3-5-2): Maignan; Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlovic; Saelemaekers, Loftus-Cheek, Ricci, Fofana, Estupinan/Bartesaghi; Pulisic, Leao.