[misha]

Udinese vs AC Milan

Serie A 2007/08 - Week 19

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Stadio Friuli

Time : 14:00 (UK); 15:00 (IT)

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The spotlight will be on Alexandre Pato once again when Milan take on Udinese at the Stadio Friuli. The young Brazilian sensation marked his competitive debut for the Rossoneri with a goal against Napoli in a 5-2 victory which was their first at San Siro since last April.

It still wasn’t enough to push them out of the bottom half of the table, although Carlo Ancelotti’s men do have three games in hand on most of the rest of Serie A so it seems only a matter of time before they start climbing the ladder. And the Diavolo will fancy their chances of leaving Friuli with the three points as their away form has been impressive this season.

However, if Milan’s Brazilian trident of Kaka, Pato and Ronaldo aren’t firing then breaking through the Zebrette’s rear guard could prove tough, given that Andrea Pirlo is sitting out a one-match suspension. The man to replace calcio’s equivalent of a quarter-back is Gennaro Gattuso, who has plenty of heart but is hardly the man to unlock a defence with a slide-rule pass. That is expected to be the only change to the starting XI which tore Napoli to pieces.

Udinese boss Pasquale Marino has worked wonders since arriving last summer from Catania, pushing the Friuli boys up into contention for a Champions League spot. Despite usually operating with a three-pronged attack, it is actually defence which has been their strong point this term. A solid backline was certainly needed against bottom side Cagliari at the weekend, seeing as the Friuliani had to play with 10 men for an hour after Diaz Felipe’s dismissal. Despite that, Fabio Quagliarella’s seventh goal of the campaign was enough to secure the victory.

Felipe, as you probably guessed, is now suspended so he will be unable to take on the side who have been linked with a move for him in the past – his indiscipline certainly isn’t doing him any favours, as he now has seven yellow cards and two dismissals to his name this term. Andrea Coda benefits from this and will make his 10th appearance of the season. Gokhan Inler, who had previously missed just one game, also sits out a ban so that hands Finnish ace Roman Eremenko an opportunity to stake his claim for a first-team place.

History doesn’t bode too well for Udinese in this fixture though. Milan’s last two trips to the Stadio Friuli have seen them emerge victorious on both occasions, with an aggregate score of 7-0! Add in a 5-1 home win for the Rossoneri in 2005 and the fact that the Zebrette have gone five years without a victory in front of their own fans against Milan and it doesn’t make good reading for Marino and Co. The neutrals, however, can take heart from this statistic – there has been only one goalless draw between the sides since the turn of the century.

Keep an eye on: Alexandre Pato (Milan) – Who else was it going to be? The kid is mustard and is looking more than capable of living up to the hype, so expect more fireworks this weekend.

Last season: Udinese 0-3 Milan

Form guide: Udinese (L W L D W) Milan (D W D L W)

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Udinese (probable): Handanovic; Zapata, Coda, Lukovic; Mesto, D'Agostino, Eremenko, Dossena; Pepe, Di Natale, Quagliarella

Milan (probable): Dida; Bonera, Nesta, Kaladze, Maldini; Seedorf, Gattuso, Ambrosini; Kaka; Pato, Ronaldo

A must win game against our direct competitor for the 4th place. With Pa-Ka-Ro the sky is the limit.

This post has been edited by mishale: Jan 17 2008, 02:27 AM

[arivanjj]

Serie A Preview: Udinese-Milan -- goal.com preview

Sitting Pretty, For Now At Least

Udinese, amazingly, are currently sitting in fourth place in the Serie A table. After a respectable tenth place finish last season, they nearly lost their top two strikers over the summer, with both Antonio Di Natale and Fabio Quagliarella coming close to exiting for bigger clubs (names such as AS Roma, Milan and Manchester United were frequently mentioned). However, neither striker left, with the club doing everything they could to hold onto two of the hottest properties in Italian football.

This term, the two strikers have prospered in Udinese’s fearsome three-pronged attack (usually alongside either Asamoah Gyan or Simone Pepe), with each having scored seven goals so far.

Regarding their standing, how long can they keep it up? With Fiorentina right on their heels and Milan sure to start gaining ground on everyone due to the backlog of fixtures they have, Udinese will be hard-pressed to hang onto this lofty position.

All hope is not lost, however. A stingy defense, which has only given up three goals or more on two occasions this season, has been the most-reliable part of the squad. With the attack not always firing on all cylinders, the backline is what has kept them in many of their matches.

Out With the Old, In With the New

This Sunday marks the twenty-third anniversary of Paolo Maldini’s debut in the Milan first team. All the way back on January 20, 1985, then sixteen year old Maldini came on for the second half away to Udinese (the match finished at one goal apiece), in what would be the beginning of one of the most-successful careers in football history. And this Sunday, in front of the entire world, Paolo Maldini returns for the last time as a player to the place where he began his career.

While Milan captain Paolo Maldini winds down the last few months of his career, Brazilian striker Alexandre Pato made his own debut just last Sunday, and what a debut it was! He had told the press he was going to score, and he made good on that prediction by getting his first Milan goal in the 74th minute, in Milan’s 5-2 win over Napoli (although, he did initially predict he would score twice).

Milan’s attack has been laboring all season long, and this young, energetic striker is just what they needed. The way he combined with Kakà (who scored in the very same match) and Ronaldo (he scored twice on his return from a long injury layoff) bodes well for the Milan as they try to climb up the Serie A table and defend their Champions League crown.

FORM GUIDE (last five fixtures)



Udinese

12/15 Catania 2-0 Udinese Serie A

12/19 Udinese 0-0 Palermo Coppa Italia

12/23 Udinese 2-2 Empoli Serie A

1/13 Cagliari 0-1 Udinese Serie A

1/16 Palermo 0-1 Udinese Coppa Italia



Milan

12/16 Milan 4-2 Boca Juniors World Club Cup

12/20 Milan 1-2 Catania Coppa Italia

12/23 Inter 2-1 Milan Serie A

1/13 Milan 5-2 Napoli Serie A

1/16 Catania 1-1 Milan Coppa Italia

TEAM NEWS

Udinese have two absentees, both through suspension. Felipe was sent off in the first half of last Sunday’s away victory against Cagliari. The other player missing out is Swiss midfielder Gokhan Inler, for yellow card accumulation.

Milan will be missing Andrea Pirlo, due to the amount of yellow cards he has received. As far as the fitness of the squad is concerned, manager Carlo Ancelotti should have plenty of choices for the lineup with nearly everyone fully-fit.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Antonio Di Natale (Udinese) – He is joint top-scorer for his club this season, with seven goals. He has now cemented a place for himself in the Azzurri setup, and could shine this Sunday in Udinese’s trident attack against a Milan defense which can lack focus from time to time.

Alexandre Pato (Milan) – Following his debut last Sunday, he will again be expected to dazzle by showing ability beyond his tender years. The goal he scored last weekend in his debut only added more pressure.

POSSIBLE STARTING XI’s

Udinese (3-4-3): Handanovic; Zapata, Coda, Lukovic; Mesto, D’Agostino, Eremenko, Dossena; Pepe Di Natale, Quagliarella

Milan (4-3-1-2): Dida; Oddo, Nesta, Kaladze, Maldini; Seedorf, Gattuso, Ambrosini; Kakà; Pato, Ronaldo

PREDICTION

Milan have fared well against Udinese in recent seasons, winning this particular fixture last season by a score of 3-0. Although this year’s version of Udinese is quite a bit better, the new-look Milan frontline could very well become the most-feared in all of Italy, if not the world.

This match will not be as open as Milan's 5-2 win over Napoli last Sunday, so don't expect quite as many fireworks.

Udinese 0-2 Milan