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AC Milan will play in front of the San Siro crowd for the first time in 2026 when they entertain Genoa on Thursday night.
There is quite a bit of pressure on Milan to keep their good run going, given that Juventus and Roma both won on Tuesday, while Inter beat Parma last night and Napoli dropped points against Hellas Verona just before that.
Fiorentina’s win against Lazio has also ramped up the urgency for Genoa to start getting more points after a mixed start under Daniele De Rossi. They are now just two points from the bottom three, and have taken just one point from their last four games.
AC Milan vs. Genoa: Five key battles
The man leading the charge for Milan – as La Gazzetta dello Sport put it this morning – will be Rafael Leao. The Portuguese winger is having his most prolific season in terms of taking chances, and after his winner against Cagliari last Friday, he will be hoping to pop up with his seventh (and possibly more) league goal of the campaign.
On the other side will be Leo Ostigard, the man who has become the anchor of the three-man defence for Genoa since his arrival on loan from Stade Rennais. There was a time when Ostigard was actually mentioned as a Milan target after his first spell at Genoa (on loan from Brighton), and he has ended up back in Italy after a spell in France. He will certainly relish a physical duel, if it becomes one.
Moving into the midfield, there will be an intriguing contest between Luka Modric and Morten Frendrup. This is not a conventional clash though, given that the pair will probably rarely come up against each other directly, but rather one of the areas of the field where the game might well be decided.
The duo have different ways of playing the regista role. Modric is very much a creative metronome for Milan; the one to get the ball in build-up and try feed those ahead of him, though he does defensive dirty work too. Frendrup on the other hand is a shield in front of the defence, and perennially ranks among the top midfielders in defensive metrics.
For Genoa, the main threat will without doubt be Lorenzo Colombo, who is of course on loan from Milan. The boyhood Milanista will want to prove a point against his parent club, and he has three league goals to his name. He has spoken of feeling more trust with Genoa, especially given that his move is expected to become permanent in June if they stay up.
It will be an all-Italian contest in the Milan box, as Matteo Gabbia will face off against his former team-mate. We can expect a lot of aerial duels given the Rossoblu will likely go direct, and Gabbia will resume his starting spot after recovering from a knee injury, so Massimiliano Allegri will be hopeful there isn’t any lingering rust.
The two most interesting battles are without a doubt out wide, starting with Alexis Saelemaekers against Aaron Martin on the Diavolo’s right flank. Martin has been a real threat going forward for Genoa with four goal contributions to his name, and he should be well-rested after missing the draw against Pisa.
On the flip side, Saelemaekers is having perhaps his best start to a season with Milan. He has two goals and two assists to his name but he is among the leaders for the team in various categories, showing the valuable work that he does in the defensive phase as well as when looking to get forward.
Finally, we end with Davide Bartesaghi versus Brooke Norton-Cuffy. The duel down Milan’s left could end up being one between Milan’s present and future. Bartesaghi’s rise this season has been incredible, and there is talk of him getting a new deal in the coming months to fend off obvious interest from the Premier League.
Norton-Cuffy meanwhile has been linked with a move to the Rossoneri in the past week, as a potential back-up to Saelemaekers in the event that the squad needs to be upsized with European competitions to contest in 2026-27. He is fast, physical and direct, so it will be a good audition for him against Bartesaghi.
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