What a terrible time for a derby. Juve have to be feeling th pressure, and if they do by any miracle lose points, we have to be ready to overtake them, and that means winning this derby at all costs.

I really do hope that Allegri takes his head out of his @ss and plays the best possible line-up that he has available and that means



I have no doubts that with that line-up we could play to our best capacities with that line-up.

Huge derby.

We got this.

We all know Muntari will play instead of Aquilani, though.

Big game against a big team. And we know Max hasn't come good in these this season. I hope he steps up or that at least the players do.

Doubtful though.

Whatever happened to his problem with Mexes??

I think he's been dropping/giving rest to some key players for a moment like this. look at how well Robinho played yesterday and compare it to his form before being dropped. same for Mexes.

Seedorf will likely sit out this one as well and given his form and his behavior the other game, I can't question it.

I hope there was a clause in Muntari's contract that he'd not play against Inter, though

It just happened. You didn't expect Allegri to keep him out forever, did you? Guardiola reserved the same treatment to Pique this season when he had sloppy performances. There have been rumors of Mexes joining Tottenham next season due to his problems with Allegri, but they're just B/S though.

Abate will be back for this match. And we should be putting out a pretty decent defence. Only the midfield worries me.

As long as Abate doesn't commit yet another howler in front of Milito...

The line-up han posted is our best, and I think that's what Allegri is going to play, with the exception of Muntari instead of Aquilani.

Boy, there should be a Like button for forum posts here. + Totally 1.

This may sound cynical but should this mistake be repeated I would think it certain Milito must have saved Abate's niece from drowning in a pool somewhere sometime.

Pretty much...

Ha, he really has got him (Abate, that is) figured out hasn't he. Not many have. Abate can beat many a players due to his pace alone, he gets around them, covers them, but not Milito it seems. I've always seen him getting into bit of a trouble defending from the Argentine whenever we play inter.

I wouldn't say that. Abate was doing great throughout the game. One slight misjudgement and Milito got in. It was mostly a mistake rather than not being able to handle him. Abate has handled C. Ron, Eto'o and Messi in the past. I highly doubt that Milito could be much of a problem if he didn't lose concentration, even if it was for just a fraction of a second

Milito is the type of striker who needs just such an opening. Even if Abate dozes off for a couple of seconds, he'll get in from his side. Abate's game reading ability still needs quite a bit of work, his biggest asset is his pace, which he uses to keep tabs on opposing strikers. And anytime Abate gets behind, it takes some work to cover it back.

Time which classic strikers like Milito, Eto'o and friends pounce on without any hesitation. Fingers crossed he doesn't have one of those moments tomorrow. I can only hope Silva is somehow back for the match.

Still that does not mean that he couldn't handle him. It's more to do with his own awerness rather than his opponent's.

As for Thiago, no doubt he'll be a huge boost. But I trust the Mexes and Nesta partnership. I'm mostly worried about Muntari in midfield, who even manages to look terrible against bottom of the table fodder, let alone decent midfielders

I trust any partnership many a times more if Silva is one of the CBs. Let's see. I'm as confident for the match as I've ever been, but it'll be a darn shame if Juventus were to slip once more, and we miss the bus against inter. These next two matches are must, must win at all costs, lay the blood, sweat, everything on the pitch.

While I do have that tiny bit of hope that either of Cagliari or Atalanta will draw, we need to win 100%.

It would be even more crushing if we were to not win this while Juve lose points than it would be if we were to lose points while Juve keep winning.

At least we'll lose the title knowing that we've done all we can. And that can only be done if we get 6 points from these next 2 games, anything other than that would be a complete failure imo.

silva is likely to miss the derby read on goal...

Mediaset's line-up: Abbiati; Abate, Nesta, Bonera, Antonini; Nocerino, Van Bommel, Muntari; Boateng; Ibrahimovic, Cassano.

But they say Silva might still play from the start.

Perfect. That means he'll probably start the game!

He better at least play Mexes FFS!!

He better not play Muntari,pleaseeee.Aquilani,and we have that formation we shined in

Inter 2-3 Milan
'13 Milito
'67 Maicon
'90+1 Muntari
'90+3 Muntari
'90+6 Muntari

For some reason this post reminds me of Jefri. Only his would be more pessimistic, with inter going three goals up, and Muntari scoring two in injury time. Oh, the days!

Good one, kurt!

As for the lineup, Mediaset really got it wrong last game:

Mediaset's line-up: Abbiati; Abate, Bonera, Yepes, Antonini; Nocerino, Ambrosini, Muntari; Boateng; Ibrahimovic, El Shaarawy.

Abbiati, De Sciglio, Nesta, Mexes, Antonini, Nocerino, Ambrosini, Muntari, Boateng, Ibrahimovic, Cassano.


Maybe it's better to postpone complaining about the lineup until it's official?

Agreed, Allegri would have to absolutely out of his damn mind to leave Nesta and Mexes on the bench and play Bonera and Yepes instead.

Cassano will start, we've come to rely on him too much now that Ibra's form has hit a brick wall.

Muntari will play, and maybe should this time. I don't trust Aquilani one bit, and if Muntari will be motivated against Inter and play like he did for the first two matches with us, I'm actually okay with it.

I think you discredit Aquilani way too much. Surely, he's no Pirlo, but he's a good, creative player, which we need like the air.

He's average. He didn't even have one very good Milan appearance this season apart from his premier. Mostly he'd start good but then go MIA or getting owned when defending. Problem is, Allegri demands him to defend as well, and he's not good at it. I'm unsure whether we should play him at this point: I know playing Muntari is a calamity and a stupid decision, but I must say that playing Aquilani most probably in the end won't mean much good either.

I think you're once again blowing things out of proportion. Aquilani was good at balancing our midfield and offering that creativity sparkle we so very much have lacked in these past few months. So, yes, maybe his performance throughout a game wasn't very consistent, or his defensive skills weren't top notch. But he still was useful to our cause. It's not like Seedorf is better defensively or can keep it up the whole game, yet Allegri always played him in the big occasions. And now with Muntari it's even worse. I think Aquilani was treated very poorly ever since he got back from his injury, and that we really missed his presence in these last few months.

Can't disagree there. While what Fillipo is saying is not completely untrue, but the fact remains that after his injury Allegri cut him short when it comes to appearances, starts, even his position and role during matches. Before Aquilani got injured he was steadily and surely finding his place, creating scoring opportunities, and more.

Now every time I watch him, he seems lost, just like most of the team. Sad state of affairs, for a team like ours.

Allegri said Thiago won't play. It's been a month and ten days since his injury. Wasn't it supposed to last only 3-4 weeks?

Yes, Allegri's man-handling is poor, that's old news to me. I knew it would and will happen over and over again. But on the other hand, I must admit Aquilani could have done more in those 12-25 minutes Allegri gave him a few times up till now. I don't expect magic, but I expect determination, force to show the coach he's wrong and should play him more.

If it comes to defensiveness, Seedorf is much better. He's slow now and that's his main problem, but overall there's a big difference. Aquilani has a tendency of not going into a duel 100%, he often drifts away, and has stupid habit of collecting yellow cards unnecessarily.

Are you surprised?

It's a blow, but Nesta-Mexes should do the trick.

Called-up players: Abbiati, Amelia, Abate, Bonera, De Sciglio, Mexes, Nesta, Yepes, Ambrosini, Aquilani, Boateng, Flamini, Gattuso, Muntari, Nocerino, Van Bommel, Cassano, El Shaarawy, Ibrahimovic, Maxi Lopez, Robinho.

Silva not even called up. **** MILANLAB!!!

That much is certain!

I think Muntari has gotten a yellow in every game he's played for us. With the exception of maybe 1 or 2 games

Aqui is clumsy in the challenge, but that's because he's not a DM or a physical player, he's not made for it. You'd think that with the system we play Allegri would find a way to give Aqui some more freedome rather than trying to make him into some box-to-box guy

Na na na na na na na na Statman!

6 yellows in 12 games.

Another 1 in the Coppa as well.

A caution every other game is still nothing to scoff at.

It's very impressive isn't it.

Anyone else notice that not a single left back was called up.....

Yep, as impressive as his pass completion rate. I wonder how that looks...

Yes, I was just about to mention that. And Emanuelson hasn't been called-up either. I guess Bonera will play there, which isn't good.

Nostalgic throwbacks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4RFUrx52Jk

My hero.

Awesome.

That goal from the 04/05 CL season is still one of my very favourite goals. Just the way he struck it is simply amazing.