In their first action of the new year, Milan struggled against a tight Sampdoria side in a round of 16 Coppa Italia match, before making a couple key changes in extra time to run out 2-0 victors.
Gennaro Gattuso has led his Milan side to 31 points in the first half of the Serie A season, but this still leaves him outside the UEFA Champions League qualification spots in fifth place. With his tenure under pressure, his side traveled to Stadio Luigi Ferraris having one win, two draws and two losses in his last five games across all competitions. Sampdoria, on the other hand, came into this match with only one loss in their last seven games across all competitions, with that being a 2-1 loss at Juventus just before the winter break.
Line-ups
Marco Giampaolo’s side came out in a 4-3-1-2 that has become standard for them this season. He only made three changes over the side that lost narrowly to Juventus before the new year, with goalkeeper Rafael replacing Emil Audero, and a new centre-back pairing of Lorenzo Tonelli and Joachim Andersen.
Milan also made relatively few changes over their previous game, sticking with the 4-3-3 and changing the goalkeeper, with Pepe Reina coming in, as well new signing Lucas Paqueta. Paqueta slotted into a three-man midfield, with Hakan Calhanoglu moved into the forward line to replace Suso, who was suspended after picking up a red card in Milan’s 2-1 victory over SPAL.
