Milan, after Fiorentina there is Tottenham: Pioli’s recipe

When asked if he already has in mind the formation to be deployed in London, Pioli answered “yes” in a confident tone, only to then backtrack so as not to give too many clues: “More or less”. Meanwhile, a name can be given: Leao. The Portuguese, disqualified in Florence, will take back his place on the left, ready to win as in the first leg. One more factor to find the company.

Leah, where are you?

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Rafael hasn’t scored in almost two months. The last call was on January 14th against Lecce, in the 2-2 draw at Via del Mare. From then on seven games without throwing her in, including the Super cup final lost against Inter. Pioli needs the Mvp of the last Serie A to hit the quarter-finals. The last time the Rossoneri entered the top eight was in 2012, Milan-Barcelona. Leao was 13 years old and had fun in the Sporting youth team, a rebellious talent with excellent dribbling and constant reproaches. “Lazy, lazy, not inclined to sacrifice”. In Lisbon they talked about it like this, and maybe they were right. Pioli, after a couple of intermittent seasons, scolded him for the last time: “Either you change, or you get lost”. The rest is what we saw last year: best player in Serie A with 11 goals. In London she will need him.

Diaz tries

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The doubt concerns Diaz. The Spaniard stopped before Fiorentina due to a knee sprain. Pioli didn’t clarify recovery times, he also remained vague in the post-match, so the situation is still shady. Brahim – match winner in the first leg – will do everything to take part in the away match. After all, he also has a certain feeling for the Thames: in 2017, with City, he scored a hat-trick against Chelsea’s Under 23 team – punished for two years first with the Under 18 team – and another goal for Tottenham, who was also punished “when he grew up” in the last match. Pioli crosses his fingers and hopes for recovery. When he sees Europe Brahim always gets some applause: five goals in 20 games since he has been wearing the Rossoneri. And London also brings good luck.