The five key battles that could win or lose the game for Milan against Como

AC Milan will officially pass the halfway point of their 2025-26 Serie A campaign with a short trip to face Como away from home.

By quirk of the fixture scheduling, Milan will meet Como for the first time this season despite having already played 19 games. The game at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia had to be moved because of the Rossoneri’s participation in the Supercoppa Italiana just before Christmas.

This promises to be a very tough encounter against a Como side that have established themselves as a new force in Serie A and currently occupy a European spot, something that they suggest week by week they can hang on to.

Como vs. AC Milan: Five key battles

We start with a duel between two players at the opposite ends of their respective careers, but who remain an absolute joy to watch. Nico Paz is without a doubt Como’s main man, with six goals and six assists to his name already in the league. He operates behind the striker, and has already been strongly linked with a summer return to Real Madrid, such is the level he is playing at.

Luka Modric knows all about what it takes to succeed at the Santiago Bernabeu, and also about being the creative force in midfield. Tonight though he will be the shield in front of Milan’s defence and will look to both be the pivot in build-up but also the disruptor, given how much of the home side’s play will go through Paz.

Photo by Claudio Villa/AC Milan via Getty Images

Christian Pulisic is not 100% which means that Christopher Nkunku will lead the line for the Rossoneri, as per reports. He scored a brace against Hellas Verona on December 28, missed the next two games, then returned with a last-minute equaliser against Fiorentina. That means three goals in the last two games, for a player that was previously labelled a €38m flop.

Nkunku will hope to keep his good form going against Jacobo Ramon. The Spaniard is quickly establishing himself as one of the best young central defenders in Serie A if not on the European scene. The 21-year-old is favoured over Kempf, and it will be interesting to see how he copes against the movement of the Frenchman.

At the other end, the No.9 for the Lariani has in fact not been Alvaro Morata for most of the season as many presumed. Instead it is Anastasios Douvikas that has been leading the line, a Greek striker who has managed to rack up six goals in 10 starts, having signed just over one year ago from Celta Vigo in Spain.

Matteo Gabbia is the man who will be tasked with thwarting him. After recovering from a knee issue, the Italian centre-back struggled a bit against Lorenzo Colombo in the draw with Genoa, but then did a better job on Moise Kean in Florence. He will be the anchor again, with Koni De Winter and Fikayo Tomori joining him.

On the right hand side, there will be a contest between Alberto Moreno and Alexis Saelemaekers. Moreno made a name for himself at Sevilla, then got a move to Liverpool where he was largely a back-up, and ended up at Como after a spell with Villarreal. In his career he has made a name for himself by getting forward rather than his defensive work, so this is basically a wing-back duel.

Saelemaekers meanwhile is the man who barely rests. He has started 19 out of 19 league games for the Diavolo and Massimiliano Allegri will use him again today. There were some worries his battery might be a bit flat after some subdued recent outings, yet it seems the coach cannot do without him.

Finally, we end with the battle in the dugouts between Cesc Fabregas and Massimiliano Allegri. Both have very different ways of interpreting how football should be played: the former is all about possession-based domination and playing an attractive style no matter what the end score, while the latter cares about the result above all else. It is a clash of styles, and the pitch will determine the better.