The five key battles that could win or lose the game for Milan against Atalanta | OneFootball

AC Milan are preparing to take on Atalanta this evening and as always, there are some battles that could decide the outcome of the game. From Rafael Leao to Mateo Retegui, the key players are rather obvious.

Following the 4-0 win against Udinese, Milan will be looking to extend their winning run tonight, while also boosting their confidence ahead of the Coppa Italia decider against Inter. Atalanta, meanwhile, want to cement their spot in the top four.

Sergio Conceicao isn’t expected to make any changes to the starting XI, relying on the same men as last time out, and Atalanta will only make one change. As such, identifying the key battles is rather easy, as we have done below.

The key battles

Starting from the back, from Milan’s perspective that is, it’s clear that all three defenders will have to keep a close eye on Mateo Retegui. However, seeing as Matteo Gabbia will be in the centre, it’s likely that he will be up against the league’s top goalscorer more (at least in the air).

Retegui currently has 23 goals in the league and he needs just one more to match Pippo Inzaghi’s record of 24 goals with La Dea. Gabbia, meanwhile, was his usual composed self against Udinese and will be looking to keep another clean sheet. The battle of the Matteos (almost).

On the right-hand side, Alex Jimenez is poised to play from start again and we can be sure that Ademola Lookman will drift wide to take on the Spaniard, also making use of Davide Zappacosta’s overlap.

Lookman scored the winner in the reverse fixture and he has 18 goals in total this season, which is very impressive. That being said, he hasn’t scored or assisted in his last four league games, so form perhaps isn’t on his side.

In midfield, Tijjani Reijnders is often the creative source for Milan and it will likely be Marten De Roon’s job to shut his compatriot down. The experienced midfielder plays a tough game, we all know that, and he won’t shy away from giving the Rossoneri No.14 a few knocks.

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

Reijnders, as such, will have to use all of his skills to get past the 34-year-old who, admittedly, doesn’t have speed on his side anymore. The two know each other well so in that sense, it should be a very interesting battle.

Further up the pitch, Rafael Leao will be looking to bag his first league goal at home this season (!). He both scored and assisted against Udinese, so form shouldn’t be an issue, but perhaps the struggles will continue a San Siro.

The winger should be up against Odilon Kossounou, not Rafael Toloi as first expected, so it will be interesting to see how the youngster will handle the Milan star. Kossounou definitely has more pace than Toloi, which will be needed.

Finally, while he didn’t score or assist against Udinese, Luka Jovic still played an important role for Milan. Indeed, his ability to drop down and act as a link between midfield and attack allowed the likes of Leao and Christian Pulisic to find space.

It just remains to be seen if Atalanta’s Isak Hien will be able to keep the Serbian from getting to the ball in the first place. The Swede is very strong and will definitely give his opponent a hard time, but the Milan man is very skilful on the ball.