AC Milan Host AS Roma in Final Round of Serie A Action
With the club reportedly on the verge of being bought out by a Chinese consortium, AC Milan will welcome AS Roma to the San Siro this weekend for their final game of the Serie A season.
The Rossoneri have endured another disappointing campaign with the optimism surrounding the appointment of Sinisa Mihajlovic having faded long before the manager was sacked back in April. Things have improved little under his successor, Christian Brocchi. The 18-time Serie A champions currently sit in seventh place, with only two wins on the books since February.
A win for Milan could potentially see them make it over the line into sixth place, depending on how Sassuolo fair against Internazionale, but Milan will again finish the season outside the European places; a disappointing return for a club that have been crowned champions of Europe more times than any other, save Real Madrid.
But this is the Milan we live with at the moment and one would hope that an infusion of Chinese cash might be the thing to revitalize a club that not too long ago, was competing for top honors in Italy and Europe. The Rossoneri’s cause on Saturday will not be aided by the absence of Luca Antonelli and Jeremy Menez, who are both out injured. Although leading scorer Carlos Bacca and top assist man Giacomo Bonaventura will both be available for selection. Having won 13 of their last 16 matches, Roma will arrive at the San Siro in high-flying form with an away win very much in the realm of possibility. Unfortunately, it may prove a case of too little, too late for the Giallorossi.
While Roma have had a far better season than Milan, it’s also bound to go down as something of a disappointment. The Giallorossi have nowhere near the pedigree of their opponents this weekend. However, in recent seasons, Roma have been the team that’s looked most likely to challenge Juventus’ absolute hegemony over the Serie A title.
But another season that promised so much has fizzled out prematurely for Roma. After also changing managers midstream, the capital outfit are set to finish third behind champions Juve and second place Napoli. A win at the San Siro could provide Luciano Spalletti’s team with the faintest hopes of overhauling Napoli for second. But it looks more likely they’ll finish third and have to play in the qualifiers to make it into next season’s Champions League.
Roma winger Diego Perotti will be unavailable due to a muscle problem. Club legend Francesco Totti meanwhile, could very well make his final appearance in a Roma shirt Saturday. The veteran striker is out of contract at season’s end and there are conflicting reports about where the 39-year-old’s future may lie.