2/14/03 22:18
BACKGROUND
Two teams in rather poor from meet at the San Siro in the late Sunday fixture
in the hope of ending what has been a miserable second half of the season for
them. Milan ended the first half of the season with a record-breaking 39
points, but have failed to retain top spot and have slipped to third after
poor 1-0 defeats at Udinese and Perugia. Lazio were one of the surprises of
the season, blowing away opposition away from home and are still very much
in the title chase. But, Mancini's side has also found it hard to break down
the opposition lately.
The problem seems to be in the ability of teams to build a wall of men to
prevent both, Milan and Lazio, from playing their free-flowing brand of
football. That is why this fixture seems to be so interesting. Both teams
will for once be released from this curse and be free to attack each other
as they please in what promises to be a feast of a match-up.
TEAM NEWS
Ancelotti is missing his captain Maldini in defence and will replace him with
another veteran, Alessandro Costacurta. Dida, Rivaldo and Roque Jr. have just
returned from Brazil and while the goalie should be back to first team action,
the latter couple will have to be content with the bench. Ancelotti's biggest
dilemma is the midfield where he is desperate to play Serginho. But Il
Concorde is not fully fit and might not be the ideal choice for a three-man
midfield. However, his assistant Tassotti has stated that should Serginho be
fit on Saturday, Milan could play a 4-4-2 formation with Serginho on the left.
Roberto Mancini will be without Simone Inzaghi, who has a broken wrist and
Fernando Couto who is suspended. However, the team welcomes back Serb stopper
Mihajlovic and he may get the nod ahead of Giuseppe Favalli. Midweek Azzurri
hero Bernardo Corradi will join Claudio Lopez in attack, which means that
Enrico Chiesa (who was so impressive against Roma in the Coppa) will be
benched. Another Azzurri hero, Fiore, who returned to the NT fold after
several months out, will lead the midfield quartet.
FORM GUIDE
Milan last six (all comps): WWLWDL
Milan have ended a long stay at the top of the table by kicking off the
second half the season by collecting only 3 points from three games. They
have been slow and predictable and they have not been able to dominate
opposition like before. It is indeed a bad period for the rossoneri.
Lazio last six (all comps): WDLDLD
Lazio themselves have let their fantastic season-opening form become a
disaster as they have now won in five games now. The poor defeat at the
hands of Reggina and the hard-earned draw at Torino show that they are
lacking the form they possessed earlier this season and will have to struggle
to get three points at the San Siro.
PROBABLE LINEUPS
Milan (4-3-1-2): Dida; Simic, Nesta, Costacurta, Kaladze; Gattuso, Pirlo,
Seedorf; Rui Costa; Shevchenko, Inzaghi
Lazio (4-4-2): Peruzzi; Pancaro, Negro, Stam, Favalli; Fiore, Giannichedda,
Stankovic, Cesar; Corradi, Lopez
(和昨天的不一樣，讓詹尼凱達上場是為了穩固後防吧)
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Alessandro Nesta (Milan): The former biancocelesti skipper has stated that
it does not matter to him who he plays, whether Lazio or Roma…all that
matters now is Milan. He says he remembers the hurt he felt when he was
booed in the return leg of this match and promises a performance noteworthy
of remembrance. I doubt anyone will expect anything less from this Azzurri
wall.
Stefano Fiore (Lazio): Milan's defence has been fine form even though the
results have gone against the rossoneri. If anyone has the ability to open
up this defence, it will have to be this man. Fiore is finally showing the
same form that earned him a place in Italy's EURO 2000 side. His passing
and finishing coupled with his off-the-ball movement will cause the rossoneri
midfield a good number of problems.
(基本上是同意的，幾個有可能進球的人，一個小花，一個西蒙尼，不過這個板本的預
測沒把他排上先發， 虫哥近況不佳，還有一個科拉迪應該也是值得信任的，他需要更
進一步的証明自己的實力，這場比賽是最好的機會。)
--
"Life is a lot more beautiful when you have to
struggle and fight for something"
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