Paulo Fonseca confirms Rafael Leao and Tammy Abraham are doing things ‘differently’ on a tactical level at Milan under his guidance as they face Sassuolo in the Coppa Italia Round of 16.
It kicks off at San Siro at 20.00 GMT.
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens on the Liveblog.
The winners of this tie will go on to face either Roma or Sampdoria in the quarter-finals of the competition.
There is no extra time, so if the teams are still on level terms after 90 minutes, it will go directly to a penalty shoot-out.
“It is a competition I really like and I think we have a good chance of progressing far,” Fonseca told Sport Mediaset.
“With the way the system is organised, it helps the best teams reach the semi-finals and then it goes down to the quality of those sides.
“We are Milan, we are ambitious and want to be in the Final of the Coppa Italia.”
It is a competition that this club has not won for 21 years, though Fonseca has a good record in the Ukrainian and Portuguese versions of the tournament.
There is squad rotation from the Rossoneri, but only to a certain degree, because Rafael Leao, Tijjani Reijnders and Youssouf Fofana are still in the starting XI.
Mike Maignan is out after a dental procedure, while Theo Hernandez has a bruised foot and is not even on the bench either.
Fonseca changing Leao and Abraham roles
epa11712038 Milan’s Rafael Leao celebrates with his teammates after scoring the 1-1 goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Cagliari Calcio and AC Milan, in Cagliari, Italy, 09 November 2024. EPA-EFE/FABIO MURRU
It was noted that Leao is cutting inside a lot more recently rather than just heading down the left and pulling back.
“Rafa is using different spaces now and not just getting to the by-line. He is in a good period of form, it’s important to have a strong attack tonight and this is the choice that I made,” explained Fosenca.
Abraham is not a very prolific centre-forward, but did participate in all three Champions League goals against Slovan Bratislava last week.
“I have faith in all my players. Noah Okafor was ill this week, so wasn’t ready to play. Abraham had a very good performance in Bratislava, I chose to start only Morata in the last game, but Tammy is improving,” added Fonseca.
“He has a totally different approach to the role here than in recent years, I expect him to play the way he did in Bratislava.
“We have players who can do well this evening.”
Related News :