Overview
While Inter Milan is aiming for a domestic double title, AC Milan's season is sliding in a completely opposite direction.
Just two months ago, the victory in the Derby della Madonnina once helped Rossoneri maintain a close gap with Inter in the Serie A championship race. But now, Max Allegri's team must fight hard for a place in the top 4 to win a ticket to the Champions League next season.
Juventus has taken the lead, while Roma and Como continuously put pressure behind, making Milan's position in the Champions League group no longer safe.
After a 0-2 defeat to Sassuolo in early May, Rossoneri continued to disappoint when they let Atalanta take a 3-goal lead right at San Siro in the most recent round. Despite rising up to score 2 goals and almost equalizing at the end of the match, Milan still could not avoid another stumble.
Currently ranked fourth with the remaining two rounds, Milan is only ranked above Roma thanks to head-to-head record, while Como is only 2 points behind them.
The serious decline in form further strained the atmosphere at San Siro. Winning only 4 points in the last 6 Serie A matches is Milan's worst streak since 2019.
In the context of coach Max Allegri's future being questioned, Milan has dropped 17 points in the second leg of this season - the worst performance in Serie A in terms of form decline.
However, head-to-head history still brings some confidence to Rossoneri before the away match to Genoa this weekend. Milan has won all three of their last trips here and only lost one of their last 16 encounters with Genoa in Serie A.
However, Genoa's current situation has changed significantly compared to the 1-1 draw in the first leg in January - the match where Rafael Leao scored the late equalizer for Milan at San Siro.
The home team at Luigi Ferraris is no longer under relegation pressure. Since De Rossi took over as coach in November, Genoa has significantly improved their form and quickly created a safe gap with the relegation group.
The red and blue team gained 25 more points in the second leg, up to 9 points more than in the first half of the season. Only Fiorentina has a better improvement than Genoa in Serie A this season.
Under De Rossi, Genoa once had a period of winning 5 out of 8 matches, thereby soon completing the relegation target. However, their recent form also showed signs of stagnation. Rossoblu have gone through 3 consecutive matches without scoring, including the 0-0 draw against Fiorentina last week.
Having only won 2 points in the last 3 matches, De Rossi certainly wants to close the home season with a victory - a result that is not only meaningful for Genoa but can also indirectly help Roma in the top 4 race.
Expected lineup:
Bijlow Marcandalli, Ostigard, Vasquez, Sabelli, Frendrup, Malinovskyi, Ellertsson, Ekhator, Vitinha, Colombo.
AC Milan: Maignan, Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlovic, Athekame, Fofana, Ricci, Rabiot, Bartesaghi, Nkunku, Gimenez.
The match between Genoa and AC Milan takes place at 5:00 PM on May 17 (Vietnam time).
