(Football news) Despite their own autumnal problems, Milan has collapsed, but the Viola are still chasing Italy’s top four, sitting just three points behind their hosts with almost three months remaining in the season.
With the exception of a strong Champions League performance, Milan had been falling out of the top spot in Serie A and back into the pack, so they may have been happier than most when international football got in the way early this month.
As Stefano Pioli’s injury-plagued team endured a string of losses that partially undid their incredible start to the 2023–24 season, Juventus and city rivals Inter Milan moved ahead at the top of the rankings.
Milan returned home for their last match before the international break at Stadio Via del Mare in Lecce. Having lost to Juventus and Udinese before a 2-2 draw with Napoli, the Rossoneri looked set to win when Giroud and Tijjani Reijnders struck before halftime. The match came just days after Milan’s significant loss to PSG in Europe.
But they only managed to secure a single point at the end due to a second-half collapse, and it was only the disputed VAR intervention that prevented Lecce from winning spectacularly late into stoppage time.
Giroud was sent off in the waning minutes of his 100th Milan game, further compounding Pioli’s selection dilemmas at a time when the former Fiorentina manager is severely lacking in both forward and defensive depth.
With their eyes on their Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, which may ultimately determine who advances to the knockout stage, Milan now has to play a risky Serie A opponent. Losing to Fiorentina at home is not a possibility because the Rossoneri’s demanding owners would not tolerate suffering three straight home defeats.
Even though Fiorentina has lost the last three league encounters between the two clubs at San Siro, they will need to break recent history if they hope to win three points this weekend against Milan, who are currently more vulnerable due to their current state of disarray.
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