Actually, his last match was against Napoli back in mid-January, in which he was pretty good.

People tend to forget that a practice injury coupled with Kalac's completely unexpected 15 minutes was what got him benched.

they make these sort of staments every week and say the same thing about every player.

and ambro was far from vital, he was helpful.

Very true. Everyone kept saying that last season we were amazing in the KOs of the CL, but what everyone keeps forgetting is the fact that we were luckluster against Celtic and the only reason we went through is because of Kaka (who this time was struggling through injury and wasn't in shape) and the fact that we were playing Celtic not Arsenal or any other top team for that matter.

So last season if we had gotten a tough tie like this season we would have probably gone out due to the fact that we only started hitting top form during this time of the season

For what it's worth, here are the probable lineups in today's Gazzetta (they'll probably change in coming days):

ZEBRAS
Buffon 1
Grygera 21
Legrottaglie 33
Chiellini 3
Molinaro 28
Camoranesi 16
Tiago 30
Sissoko 22
Salihamidzic 7
Trezeguet 17
Del Piero 10

MILAN
16 Kalac
2 Cafu
3 Maldini
24 Bonera
27 Serginho
8 Gattuso
21 Pirlo
23 Ambrosini
10 Seedorf
22 Kakà
9 Inzaghi

IMO this season has been the lack of a really good Left back to play day in day out like Marek. He was amazing last season , we all know hes had so many long lasting injuries this season. I think this is one of many problems we have had this season, Our fullbacks havent been consistent and somtimes i dont even think i can see them on the pitch, i hope Marek gets well soon! he did get some really good match winners last season and i hope he can do the same in 2008/2009
Forza Marek !

Sergio??

Is he really fit to play, he hasn't been called up in months

Pato? If it's fit he will probably start.

That is the worst Milan line-up, besides Coppa games, I have seen in a very, very long time.

Yes, any news on Pato?

I'm very optimistic for this match. We really have "unmotivated" champions in our squad, that now or never should prove themselfs in such a crucial match, like this one.

I think Kalac time's over. I want Dida between the sticks. I still trust his abilities to make the goal look like a small box for every striker that comes in front of him.
I hope Pato will be okay, and start/score which will be a great chance for him to prove himself that he's a player also for big matches, and scoring against Buffon, will surely make you a World-Class striker.

Our defense without Oddo, Nesta and Kaladze will push me to suicide every time Juventus will be on the attack.
But anyway, Bonera was really good as a right-back last match, and hopefully will make the same thing on Saturday night.

Let's get a 3 pointer and reach that cursed 4'th place.

Forza Milan !!!

Who's at home in the Inter/Fiore game?

I'm hopeful for the match. A whole bunch of people trained separately yesterday (including Pato) but I'm not sure there's real cause for worry on that account just yet. Today's training is due to begin any time now.

Camoranesi gave the interview today for the Zebras and - smart boy - he had only nice things to say about Maldini.

The Olimpico (formerly the Communale) in Torino is a really nice stadium. It's a good bit smaller than the San Siro, but the pitch is lovely (or it was 3 weeks ago) and it's a nice atmosphere.

I'd feel an awful lot more comfortable about this match if Nesta were available.

The Merda.

“For us it’s going to be an important game, I know Buffon quite well, I scored against him when I was at Inter and I will try and do the same this weekend. I am going to put one in the top corner,”
hahaha i love seedorf

Hrm. Mixed news from today's training -- which took place in the rain.

Pirlo and Emerson rejoined the group, but Pato, Janku, and Paloschi trained in the gym.

Pippo up on his own is likely

hopefully Pato will be available, even for the bench.

I am not feeling entirely confident about this game

From another lame "Fan vs. Fan" on Goal.com:

GOAL: Who is your all time number one hate figure, or object of amusement, from their lot?
Dino Distefano (Juventus): I don’t really hate anyone from their team. But Dida has been a joke ever since he joined the club. I can’t believe he is still there. I know he won’t play against Juve but he has been ridiculous this season.

*cough*'03 CL Final*cough*

Sour grapes always make the best whine.

We'll need a superb performance by Kaka' to suceed in Turin.
I doubt we'll win with the injuries and suspended players specially against the Gobbi but we'll see.

Forza ragazzi!

I love the picture. "Check out my awesome patch collection!"

cool pic Porty 2 goals are needed from Kaka to win this match, we'll surely concede 1 or 2 goals.



our keeper is on the right side

does anyone really think we can beat juve??? dont be so happy just because we beat a crappy team like cagliari....

If Palermo can beat Juve we can beat Juve. Although they needed two great goals from Amauri and a wonder strike by Cassani.. Kaka can do the Amauri but that still might not be enough.

Been too long since the last one... This is pretty good.

Just think what our Golden Boy is capable of doing, and you'll really think that we can beat them!

and I'm very confident about that.

Milan's appeal for Nesta's suspension rejected...

Carletto's given his prematch press conference. (see acmilan.com's italian page)

Highlights include:

* Simic in the centre of defense
* Favster is back
* Pippo in attack

So probably a starting lineup looking something like this:

Kalac
Bonera Simic Maldini Favalli
Gattuso Pirlo Ambrosini Seedorf
Kaka Pippo

I'm hoping it's played like a 4-4-2 as it was v. Cagliari.

Zebra call ups for the game:

I convocati di Ranieri: Belardi, Birindelli, Buffon, Camoranesi, Chiellini, Del Piero, Grygera, Iaquinta, Legrottaglie, Marchionni, Molinaro, Nocerino, Palladino, Salihamidzic, Sissoko, Stendardo, Tiago, Trezeguet.


No Nedved.

Simic will surprise everyone with his performance. I'm quite confident about him!

Good news.

Hmh...Favalli and Kalac. Does two guys trouble me a lot.

I'm not sure if we can evade this fight even with just a blue eye...What we need is Pato and Kaka, and a very concentrated midfield. Hope we'll see Superambro once more, just like Cagliari,..

So is pato in the squad?

We haven't seen kaka' and pato play together at full capacity..

Well RICKY is BACK! Was looking forward to seeing them tear up the juve defence.

Been looking forward to this game all week, should be a good match with hopefully the right result.

(from acmilan.com's italian page)

Call-ups

I CONVOCATI DI CARLO ANCELOTTI
11/04/2008
MILANELLO - Questa la lista dei 20 convocati di Carlo Ancelotti per la trasferta di Torino: Dida, Fiori, Kalac, Bonera, Cafu, Digao, Favalli, Maldini, Serginho, Simic, Ambrosini, Brocchi, Gattuso, Gourcuff, Kakà, Pirlo, Seedorf, Gilardino, Inzaghi, Paloschi

They did run Pato through drills today, but he hasn't recovered from the thigh strain.

FAK

So we have a bad keeper, no defenders, a tired midfield and no Pato for this game? Apologies if I don't sound too optimistic!

No Pato but super Pippo in goal scoring form ( i know its only 1 game!) we know we need a win and this game is a big game and we have big game players so i reckon a 1-2 win and we will be level with the Viola after this weekend

Forza Milan!!

This is the most important match for me, after the one against L'pool last year, and if we win it.... I'll go crazy!

For me the most important match will be against the merda.

This one...I want to see Seedorf turn on the magic. But I doubt it. I think it will be a draw. Or a typical Juve last minute smash and grab.

I believe we can win this IF Milan shows the right attitude.

I must admit, I've been using all of my witticisms at R&B.



(Mishigosh.)

a 4-4-2 system without real wingers, this is gonna be a sight to behold.

any idea how gud juve are one counter this season bcoz they would know we are desperate for a win so juve might try to kill us on counters

Goal.com are predicting a 2-2 draw. That situation helps Juve more than us, but would be disatourous for us if Udine, Doria and Fio win

Now is another time to go for a win, I would like 2 players to play up front. I wouldn't be surprised to see a draw in this game but I think and hope we can win.

0-2

no way we playing with 2 up front..since pato its not even in the callup list
pippo starting

Wow you guys are very optimistic

It's like the Kalac situation, he makes one mistake in a month and everyone want him out, we won one game against a poor Cagliari after 3 losses in the last 5 matchs and everyone is expecting us to beat the zebras

I really hope you guys are right, I'm predicting a defeat with at least 2 goals conceded and without scoring

exactly

I think the majority say we'll win to remain optimistic. Go on any teams forum, no matter how bad the team and quite a few will predict wins.

2-0 Juventus. It's a very, very poor Milan line-up that will be played.

juve will dominate milan will grind out an undeserved draw 1-1, subsequently destroying our hopes of making the CL. galliani will come out with post-game comments stating that nowadays the uefa cup is more prestigious than the CL and it will be a grand challenge for the red and black.