Although they were finally able to get the better of Sassuolo--who had defeated them in league play--in a rematch at the San Siro in Coppa Italia action, Milan are still not having a great start to 2015.
The Rossoneri are still searching for their first league win, having lost to the aforementioned Neroverdi and were fortunate to escape with a draw against Torino. And not surprisingly, the Italian press has already started with the criticism of new coach Filippo Inzaghi as they are currently in eighth place. Yet, given that the Scudetto race is already going to be between Juventus and Roma, Lazio, who is in third, is only six points ahead of tenth-placed Palermo. This shows how congested the upper half and middle portions of the table are and as such, a win could see a team vault into the European spots, whereas a loss would see them drop quite a few places.
Of huge concern for Diavolo supporters is the team's inability to keep a clean sheet and to deal with set-piece situations. This is something that plagued them last season and still continues to do so, unfortunately, as over one-third of their goals conceded have come about due to this.
Meanwhile their upcoming opponents Atalanta have not impressed much this season, with the goals drying up for veteran striker German Denis. In an attempt to alleviate this, Mauricio Pinilla has been brought in on loan to help la Dea, who have the second worst attacking side in the league with just 14 goals scored thus far. Stefano Colantuono's men are also uncomfortably close to the drop zone and given that they have not won a game since December 7th, they will be desparate to depart Italy's fashion capital with all three points in hand.
It will be an interesting game for Giacomo Bonaventura, who spent eight seasons (two of them on loan) with Atalanta prior to making a move to Milan this past August. And the Atalanta-Milan connection does not stop there. Current captain Riccardo Montolivo began his footballing career there after featuring for their youth sides, and Inzaghi spent a short time there in his earlier years during the 1996-1997 campaign, winning the Capocannoniere prize at the end of that season.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Follow the game on-the-go
Download our iOS and Android apps to follow soccer on-the-go. It comes packed with features - live scores, fixtures, results, tables, line-ups, stats, TV schedule and much more! Sorry, no live streaming within the app.
