Champions League is on the line as Roma host Milan at the Stadio Olimpico and it is a game that puts one top four chasing side against the other. The stakes are high and between the two, the Giallorossi are the one who are facing the more troubles when it comes to the line-up.
Coach Jose Mourinho can not count either on Chris Smalling nor his replacement Diego Llorente, with both out for muscle injuries. This means that Marash Kumbulla is set to start alongside Gianluca Mancini and Roger Ibanez.
Paulo Dybala is in doubt too. La Joya has to deal with an ankle problem due to a blow he suffered against Atalanta in the last league game. He’s not 100% and if he’ll be called, the most likely scenario for him is to coming in from the bench. Andrea Belotti could start over Tammy Abraham with Stephan El Shaarawy and Lorenzo Pellegrini playing behind him.
Nevertheless there’s a good news for Mourinho as Georginio Wijnaldum trained with the squad yesterday for the first time since the muscle injury he picked up in Europa League against Feyenoord ten days ago and he’ll be on the bench.
There are no major doubts for Milan coach Stefano Pioli. As he confirmed yesterday – Olivier Giroud is fit and ready to play after he missed the last league game against Lecce. Brahim Diaz, Ismael Bennacer and Rafa Leao will complete the attacking line with Alexis Saelemaekers starting from the bench.
Skipper Davide Calabria will get his starting spot back after missing out the Lecce clash due suspension while Simon Kjaer is the favourite over Malick Thiaw. The only bad news is that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is likely to be out for the rest of the season as exams showed that he has picked up tear in the medial twin of the right calf.
Here are the predicted line-ups from Sky Italia:
Roma (3-4-2-1): Rui Patricio; Mancini, Kumbulla, Ibañez; Zalewski, Cristante, Matic, Spinazzola; Pellegrini, El Shaarawy; Belotti.
Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Calabria, Kjaer, Tomori, Theo Hernandez;Â Tonali, Krunic; Brahim Diaz, Bennacer, Leao; Giroud.
Â
Andrea Agostinelli I GIFN
