Season Finale: Sassuolo – Milan

Milan has reached this week 38 match up at Sassuolo with the Scudetto one solitary point away. A tie will be enough to do one better than the 2020-2021 season and win the Serie A title. An unexpected title it would be and one that seemed years away when Stefano Pioli took over less than three years ago. More on the season that is about to end later.

As mentioned Milan needs just one point at Sassuolo to win the title. Owing to a better head to head record with Inter – a 1-1 tie and 2-1 win – the two points deficit requires them to win versus Sampdoria and for Milan to lose.

The back four and Maignan have held the fort well beyond expectations. Calabria has struggled somewhat this season but Kalulu , Tomori and Theo have offered a great mix of attack and defense, more so in recent weeks. The growth and solidity the center backs and balance that Theo has shown, capped off by his 70 yards plus run to score the second goal versus Atalanta, have allowed Milan to be in this position. Tonali’s form and improved solidity of Kessie and the hard work of Krunic have helped a lot as well. This has even earned the latter a start last week and perhaps another this weekend. Upfront Leao’s relative brief dip in form has reversed in May. While Giroud hasn’t scored many lately and Ibra hasn’t been on the pitch much the team has managed to get the points. Ibra took no part in the Atalanta game in front of a sold out San Siro but may play his last minutes as a footballer before retiring. Perhaps he could play the role of an impact sub again much like Rebic has in the last few weeks. These two options from the bench give hope for the final push in this season finale.

Sassuolo recovered from a week 35 6-1 rout at Napoli to tie with Udinese and beat Bologna away. Berardi, Raspadori, Scamacca et al will finish in midtable and don’t have too much to play for except that Sassuolo may look a different side next season with one, two or all three changing teams this summer.

There is always more about this and all Milan matches on the forums.