Serie A - Match Preview: A.C Milan versus Lecce
The seventeen time Italian league champions are going to play Lecce in their first match of the 2010-2011 season. Milan, who finished third in last season Serie A campaign, will be looking to improve on their last season’s league finish. On the other hand their opponents Lecce will be aiming to maintain their top division status after just earning promotion by finishing as champions of Serie B, Italian football’s second league division.
A.C Milan last won the league title seven years ago in the 2003-2004 season. Something that a club of their stature will be looking address in the new Serie A season which kicks off from the 28th of August, 2010. Milan play their first match of the season against Lecce in San Siro which is also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
For A.C Milan it will be a perfect opportunity to take advantage of their relatively easier first fixture of the league and get off to a flying start. Despite having the finances to do so, Milan have not indulged in a lot of transfer business in the currently open transfer window. However the latest transfer rumours link the Rossoneri to several players such as Ibrahimovic of Barcelona F.C and Robinho.
It is speculated that the deal between A.C Milan and Barcelona for the Swedish centre forward is in its final stages and a transfer fee of around about 47 million Euros has been agreed about by both the clubs. Some media outlets also consider that A.C Milan have lined up Robinho as their backup plan if the Ibrahimovic deal goes hay wire at some point in the future.
In their latest match against Barcelona, Milan achieved a one all draw in extra time. Nonetheless, they have managed to win two of their last four pre-season matches against Chicago Fire and Montreal Impact but lost their match against D.C United and drew with Arsenal F.C from the English Premier League.
Alternatively, Lecce will be looking to put the aging Milanese squad to the sword. The newly promoted club will be aiming to remain clear of the relegation zone for most of the season and a perfect start for them will be to nick points of the former Italian and European champions. Given that the game is at Milan’s home ground, San Siro, Lecce are definitely the underdogs in this encounter of David versus Goliath.
In their last eight meetings with Lecce, the last of which came in the 2008-2009 season, Milan have only lost one match which was held at Lecce’s home ground in 2006. In the other seven matches, A.C Milan have managed get three points on four occasions while the other three encounters between the two sides have resulted in draws. The last corresponding fixture at San Siro in 2009 was won by Milan by a score line of two goals to nil.
Lecce will be looking to their prolific striker Daniele Corvia for some imagination upfront along with goals, whereas Milan will be dependent on their star midfielder Ronaldinho, who netted fifteen goals and seventeen assists during the 2009-2010 season. This will also be A.C Milan’s first league match under their new coach Massimiliano Allegri. Allegri took his previous club Cagliari to a top half finish in the Italian league table despite having a relatively tight spending budget at the Italian club side. In the 2008-2009 season, he was awarded the Serie A football manager of the year award for his ninth placed finish with Cagliari.
This season will be a good chance for Milan to revamp their squad with new young players as they have been criticized in the past for having a squad full of “old” players, who are well over thirty years old. However their main ambition will lie in their drive to topple city rivals Inter Milan from their spot as the Italian champions.
Tags: