Milan, Calabria recovers. The captain has been missing since October

One hundred days off may be enough. Davide Calabria will return as captain against Salernitana after being sidelined for three months due to injury. The Rossoneri full-back hasn’t played since 1 October, being out after 40′ against Empoli with a problem with his hamstring. From there a long stop that led him to miss seven games in Serie A, four in the Champions League and two with the national team; out of the squad against Austria and Albania. 2023 will open with the San Siro match against the grenades. Calabria is back.

BACK

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The Rossoneri captain is preparing to play match number 29 with an armband. The first dates back to 23 August 2021 against Sampdoria. Calabria is Pioli’s balancer, the full-back full-back projected to defend and contain, the nemesis of the raider Theo. The Frenchman loves to climb and build – see the goal against Atalanta last year -, while the Rossoneri’s canterano manages and gives balance. Captain Destiny, by the way. Calabria has been playing and dreaming with Milan since his youth days. He recently declared that wearing the band “gives a certain charge”, but at the same time also responsibility, leadership. 2022 ended with a bad injury and a slow recovery. The stop helped him find condition and return to 100%. Pioli therefore has one more weapon: on January 4 he will have his captain back.

SUBSTITUTE

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Calabria missed the two tests against Arsenal and Liverpool to be able to recover better, but could snatch minutes in the last friendly before the restart, on December 30 against PSV. Pioli will have a bit more unpredictability back on the right wing. The “Theao”, or rather the French Theo and the Portuguese Leao on the left, monopolized the attack maneuver for a couple of months. Back there, Pioli had some difficulties: Dest, the American on loan from Barcelona in the last few days of the transfer market, shone only in the World Cup and very little in the league (5 appearances). Kalulu and Thiaw, owners against Spezia and Cremonese, took care of the rest. The German, with a central role, has been adapted on the right to make up for Dest’s injury, but has other qualities. The return of Calabria will certainly serve.