Overview
AC Milan are going through an extremely gloomy period. They were eliminated from the Champions League by Feyenoord in the play-off round. Returning to the Serie A arena, Rossoneri continued to receive another "cold-water bowl" when they lost 1-2 to Torino despite having a completely overwhelming position in the match.
The victory in the Italian Super Cup in early 2025 is far away. Milan will need to quickly regain their spirit for the race for a ticket to the Champions League next season.
In that context, the trip to Bologna's field in the compensation match of round 9 is still a difficult problem for Sergio Conceicao's team. Remember, Milan currently has the same score as Bologna on the rankings. Therefore, a defeat against their opponent will cost them 7th place.
As for Bologna, they were soon eliminated from the Champions League right after the League Phase. However, that helps them focus on the domestic arena. After winning a ticket to the Coppa Italia semi-finals, Bologna also has 7 points after 4 matches in Serie A. This is not an excellent achievement, but enough to give them more hope to compete for a place in the European Cup next season.
Despite having gone through disappointing matches, Milan are still benefiting from the head-to-head results in the past. The last time the Rossoneri suffered a defeat against Bologna was in January 2016. This is the factor to believe that Milan can lift their spirits with a victory right on Bologna's field.
Personnel situation
Bologna are facing some personnel problems before this match. Defender Erik Holm remains sidelined with a thigh injury, while Jens Odgaard is unable to play for the same reason.
On the other side of the front line, Milan's rookie Kyle Walker is expected to be absent from this match due to injury. The same is true of Emerson Royal, Alessandro Florenzi and Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Expected lineup:
Bologna: Ravaglia, Calabria, Beukema, Jhon Lucumi, Juan Miranda, Freuler, Moro, Pobega, Ndoye, Castro, Cambiaghi.
AC Milan: Maignan, Alex Jimenez, Thiaw, Pavlovic, Hernandez, Musah, Reijnders, Pulisic, Joao Felix, Leao, Santiago Gimenez.
The match between Bologna and AC Milan takes place at 2:45 am on February 28 (Vietnam time).
