Zlatan Ibrahimović was forced off the pitch in the second half of AC Milan’s 3-0 drubbing of Juventus last night due to a knee injury. While jumping for a header, he landed awkwardly on his left knee and was quickly subbed off for Ante Rebic. The Zlatan Ibrahimović injury comes at a poor time for Milan.
According to Gianluca di Marzio, the injury does not seem as bad as originally thought. Although still waiting for the MRI results, Milan expects Ibrahimović to likely miss the next two matches. These matches are against Torino on Wednesday and Cagliari on Sunday. If this is the case, the Swede should return in a pivotal last match of the season versus second-place Atalanta.
Zlatan Ibrahimović Injury Could See Forward Miss Two Matches
The Worst Situation is Avoided
Milan will be celebrating the Juventus victory until the next match, and for good reason. They’re inching closer to their first Champions League bid since 2013, and did so in their first away victory over their rivals in a decade. The Rossoneri never looked back after Ibrahimović’s injury, but instead took it upon themselves to completely take over the match.
Milan, however, are still a better team with Ibrahimović on the pitch. When he’s not scoring goals, he’s still the vocal leader. The squad looks up to him as the main motivator and heart of the team.
Zlatan got AC Milan’s players together for a motivational pre-match huddle.
They went out and beat Juventus away for the first time in a decade 🦁 pic.twitter.com/S0MTnugE6M
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) May 9, 2021
The next two matches are very winnable. Milan will enter as favorites even without Ibrahimović. However, they will need his return versus Atalanta as the Bergamo side remains one of the most exciting teams in all of Europe. There’s no room for error for Milan now.
Milan’s Attack With Zlatan Ibrahimović
Expect Stefano Pioli to use a similar attack as to what he used in the Juventus match when Ibrahimović went down. Using two attacking midfielders in Hakan Calhanoglu and Brahim Diaz paid off, so Pioli will likely run with that again versus Torino.
Alexis Saelemaekers is not flashy but consistently proves to be a difference-maker with his hustle play and motor. These three will start behind a striker, which will likely be Rebic. Although not a natural number nine, Rebic is the squad’s best goal scorer behind Ibrahimović.
Mario Mandzukic and Rafael Leão will also be readily available on the bench.
Main Photo
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