Milan will take on Juventus in Turin crippled by a severe injury crisis at the San Siro, with six players set to miss out on Sunday’s trip to the Allianz Stadium. The arch-rivals will trade tackles in a mouth-watering Serie A match-up tomorrow night, as the Rossoneri hope to maintain a 100% start to the season.
Milan’s hopes of posting back-to-back Serie A triumphs at the Allianz Stadium in over a decade have suffered a massive blow. Per MilanNews, Stefano Pioli will have to make it out without several key players, including star strikers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Olivier Giroud.
While Ibra continues to deal with a nasty Achilles tendon issue, Giroud has back pain and won’t be risked by Pioli despite high stakes. The experienced marksmen have netted 42.86% of Milan’s Serie A goals this season, which indicates their absence could be heavily felt in Turin.
In addition to the abovementioned duo, Pioli won’t be able to count on deadline-day signing Junior Messias. The Brazilian, who arrived from Crotone in the dying moments of the summer transfer window, has yet to reach optimal fitness level and will have to remain on the sidelines for another couple of weeks.
The well-timed return of Franck Kessie and Ismael Bennacer should cover the absence of Rade Krunic, who has yet to overcome a muscle injury. The Bosnian midfielder was an omnipresent figure at the San Siro in the opening stage of the season before picking up an injury while away on international duty.
Another midfielder will skip Milan’s trip to Juventus as Tiemoue Bakayoko sustained a calf muscle problem during his came appearance against Lazio last time out. The Frenchman joined the fray just after the hour mark but limped off the pitch 13 minutes later, and it remains uncertain how much time he’ll need to recover.
At the back, Pioli might need to deploy Pierre Kalulu as his first-choice right-back for the first time this season. The youngster performer in patches last term and has definitely fallen down the pecking order in 2021/22. However, Davide Calabria‘s recent injury setback could force Kalulu’s return to the starting line-up against Juventus of all teams.