Two must-wins await Milan before tough run of games: Roma, Inter and more

After the international break, Milan will resume matters with two games that they should win (at least on paper), before raising the difficulty a little. 

Although Massimiliano Allegri’s men didn’t head into the break with a win, drawing 0-0 against Juve, the mood is still good as Milan sit in third place. They are just two points behind Napoli and thus remain in the Scudetto race.

After the break, a response will certainly be needed to the doubts that arose from the Juve draw. While the clean sheet and defensive performance were two positives, the missed chances in attack along with some questionable individual displays must be improved upon.

Easing into things

Luckily for Milan, they have a pretty good schedule in terms of easing back into things. Fiorentina are up next for the Rossoneri and while that would usually be considered a tough game, La Viola have had a very tough start to the season.

After six games, under Stefano Pioli’s guidance, they have claimed just three points after failing to win a single game, while drawing against the likes of Cagliari, Pisa and Torino. In short, they have many problems and Milan are thus big favourites, even if it would be typical if Pioli prevailed.

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Then, Milan will be up against Pisa on a Friday evening, and that game will also be played at San Siro. It should be noted that Curva Sud will be back in action fully against Fiorentina, so that is another boost for the Rossoneri.

In any case, Pisa’s start to the season has been even worse than Fiorentina with just two points claimed. Once again, Milan will be massive favourites in the game and certainly have the quality to secure six points across these two games.

Four tough games follow

The above is as far as the easy schedule goes, though, as Milan will then take on Atalanta, Roma, Parma, Inter and Lazio. The Parma game is admittedly the outlier in that list but the other games will certainly be tough ones for the Rossoneri.

Atalanta will be away from home, while the same can also be said for the derby (Milan will be the designated away side). The most important thing will be to face these games with confidence and that’s why the aforementioned ‘easy’ games are so important, or rather they are must-wins.

Injuries could throw a spanner in the works for Allegri, with Saelemaekers already ruled out for the Fiorentina game, while Pervis Estupinan and Christian Pulisic have both had ankle discomfort. Hopefully, however, the squad will be more or less fully fit for these games.