AC Milan vs. Como | Serie A | Pre Match
AC Milan vs. Como
AC Milan prepared to welcome regional rivals Como to the iconic San Siro on Saturday evening, a fixture that carried significant weight for a team desperate to steady their faltering Serie A campaign after narrowly dodging disaster the previous week. The Rossoneri had clawed their way back from a 2-0 deficit to secure a 3-2 victory over Lecce at Via del Mare, a result propelled by Christian Pulisic’s brace that ended a demoralizing three-game losing streak and, for the moment, silenced whispers of an impending crisis. That comeback, while a testament to their resilience, had done little to mask the fragility that had plagued Sergio Conceicao’s tenure since he took the reins, with the Lecce win reportedly sparing the recently appointed head coach from the axe amid a torrid run of form. Yet, scraping past a Lecce side that had failed to score in their four prior matches offered scant reassurance for a Milan outfit languishing in ninth place, eight points adrift of Juventus, who occupied the fourth and final Champions League qualification spot with just 10 games left in the season. The stakes were clear: no further slip-ups could be tolerated if Milan harbored any hope of salvaging their European ambitions, a task made all the more daunting by their recent woes, including a tame Champions League exit at the hands of an injury-ravaged Feyenoord and a trio of Serie A defeats to Torino, Bologna, and Lazio. Against this backdrop, Como arrived in Milan buoyed by a solid campaign that had them on course for top-flight survival, their seven points from the last four games dwarfing Milan’s meager three in the same span, setting the stage for a clash where history favored the hosts but current form tilted the scales toward the visitors.
Milan’s reliance on Pulisic had become a recurring theme, with the American winger once again proving their savior against Lecce, his two goals turning the tide in a match that had threatened to plunge them deeper into disarray. The victory had snapped a losing streak that exposed defensive frailties—conceding twice in four of their last five Serie A outings—and highlighted a lack of cohesion under Conceicao, whose bold decisions had sparked debate. Last weekend, he had raised eyebrows by dropping Joao Felix, Youssouf Fofana, and Rafael Leao from the starting lineup, a gamble that paid off thanks to Pulisic’s heroics but left questions lingering about his long-term strategy. For the Como clash, team news offered a glimmer of optimism, with Alessandro Florenzi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek returning to full training, leaving Emerson Royal as the sole injury absentee. Mike Maignan and Strahinja Pavlovic also rejoined the fold after serving suspensions, bolstering a squad that desperately needed stability. Conceicao faced a pivotal call on Leao, who stood on the cusp of his 250th appearance for Milan—a milestone that underscored his status as Serie A’s only player since 2019 to notch at least 50 goals and 50 assists across all competitions. Should he reclaim his spot, Leao was likely to join Pulisic and Santiago Gimenez in a potent attacking trident, a trio capable of unlocking Como’s defense if they could find their rhythm. History leaned heavily in Milan’s favor, with an unbeaten record in 12 Serie A meetings against Como, but the visitors’ recent form and Milan’s fragility suggested that past dominance might count for little on Saturday night, especially given Como’s knack for troubling top-half teams under Cesc Fabregas’s astute guidance.
Como, meanwhile, rolled into Milan with the confidence of a side defying expectations, their promotion-fueled spending in both transfer windows laying the groundwork for a season that had them comfortably clear of the relegation mire. Sitting seven points above the drop zone, the Lariani had turned heads with their resilience, claiming 17 of their 29 points against teams in the upper half of the table—a haul surpassed only by Napoli, Atalanta, Inter Milan, and Juventus. Fabregas, a managerial novice turned revelation, had instilled a canniness that made Como a genuine threat, even if their 1-1 draw with Venezia the previous week had denied them a third win in four games. Jonathan Ikone’s opener had been undone by a last-gasp penalty, but the result did little to dent their momentum as they eyed a historic upset at San Siro. Their attacking duo of Assane Diao and Nico Paz, who had combined for 11 league goals, loomed as the chief dangers, with Diao’s strike in Milan’s 2-1 win at Stadio Sinigaglia in January a reminder of his potency against the Rossoneri. The arrival of Diao had relegated ex-Milan striker Patrick Cutrone to the bench, where he sat unused alongside Dele Alli against Venezia, while Fabregas welcomed back Marc-Oliver Kempf and Mergim Vojvoda from suspension, though injuries ruled out Sergi Roberto and Ivan Azon. Como’s away record against Milan offered little encouragement, with just one win in 12 prior Serie A visits and no goals in their last five trips to San Siro, the most recent of which came in 2003. Yet, their current trajectory suggested they could defy that barren run, especially against a Milan side whose defensive lapses—conceding twice in recent games—opened the door for an opportunistic strike.
The San Siro showdown loomed as a crossroads for both teams, with Milan desperate to harness their historical edge and Como eager to capitalize on their hosts’ vulnerability. For the Rossoneri, the weight of expectation bore down heavily, their ninth-place standing a far cry from the heights of their storied past, and the Lecce escape had done little to silence the doubters circling Conceicao. Pulisic’s form offered a lifeline, his brace against Lecce a spark that could ignite a revival, while Leao’s potential milestone added an emotional layer to a match where every point mattered in the race for Europe. Como, by contrast, carried the swagger of a side exceeding their brief, their seven-point buffer to the relegation zone a cushion that allowed Fabregas to play with ambition rather than fear. Diao and Paz’s goal-scoring threat promised to test Milan’s shaky backline, and while their San Siro hoodoo loomed large, their haul against top-half teams hinted at a capacity to spring a surprise. The tactical battle between Conceicao’s reshuffled Milan and Fabregas’s pragmatic Como added intrigue, with the former needing to balance attacking flair with defensive solidity and the latter aiming to exploit any cracks. As Saturday evening approached, the San Siro braced for a Lombardy derby that pitted Milan’s pedigree against Como’s pluck, a clash where the Rossoneri’s survival instincts would face off against the Lariani’s burgeoning belief in a season-defining spectacle.
