HELLAS VERONA v AC MILAN: MATCH PREVIEW

Another encounter that won’t be for the faint-hearted. Hellas Verona v AC Milan is the match that awaits the Rossoneri and their fans on matchday 36 in Serie A. The Diavolo are fighting for the Scudetto title, while the Gialloblù are still just about in contention to make the Conference League. It’ll be a big battle, and here’s our low-down on tonight’s 20:45 CEST kick-off.

LATEST FROM MILANELLO
The Rossoneri began their preparations for this evening’s game on Tuesday and arrived in Verona by coach earlier on today. While Kjær remains out, Florenzi has trained with the group in the last few days after recovering from surgery on his left knee. Bennacer could reclaim a spot in the starting eleven, while Díaz is competing with Kessie for a place in the initial line-up. There are also question marks over who will be selected between Messias and Saelemaekers. Four players are a booking away from suspension: Romagnoli, Díaz, Kalulu and Tomori.

"The lads are handling the pressure well," said Coach Pioli on the eve of the game. "In this respect, I can see that the group has grown. Now, we’re seven points away from achieving something extraordinary. We’ll be up against a high-quality team who are capable of causing us problems, but these matches can help you gain awareness. Playing another crucial match with so many AC Milan fans in the stands will be great for all of us. Their presence is giving us great energy."

LATEST FROM HELLAS VERONA
Pandur, Dawidowicz, Coppola and Berardi remain out for the Gialloblù, who are enjoying a good run of form: their last three matches have seen them record two away wins against Atalanta and Cagliari and draw at home to Sampdoria. From Faraoni and Lazović on the flanks to the trio of Barak, Caprari and Simeone: work ethic and quality certainly aren’t lacking in their unpredictable 3-4-2-1 formation.

"I’ve seen the right amount of focus ahead of a fantastic and exciting game," said Tudor in his pre-match press conference. "AC Milan are aiming for the Scudetto, but we have our own objectives to achieve. AC Milan, as a Club, and their coach have done some extraordinary work, and I’d like to compliment them on this. They’re strong physically and have excellent players. It’ll be very difficult, and we’ll need to be just as good and motivated. We’re doing well from a physical perspective; this is one of our strengths."

PRE-MATCH
The reverse fixture was a memorable showdown, with AC Milan coming from two behind (Caprari and Barak found the net for the visitors in the first half) to record a fantastic 3-2 victory thanks to goals from Giroud and Kessie and an own goal from Günter. The Rossoneri are set to face Verona for the 60th time in Serie A. AC Milan have won 28 of the previous 59 clashes, including four of the last six (D2). 21 draws and ten Verona wins complete the picture. The Diavolo have emerged victorious from their last two matches at the Bentegodi: 1-0 in September 2019 and 2-0 in March 2021.

LATEST FROM SERIE A
Daniele Doveri will take charge of Hellas Verona v AC Milan - his 194th match in Serie A. The linesmen will be Carbone and Bresmes, while Ayroldi will perform the role of fourth official. Aureliano (assisted by Passeri) will oversee VAR. During his career, Doveri has refereed 24 fixtures involving the Rossoneri (including Juventus 1-1 AC Milan, AC Milan 1-1 Inter and Torino 0-0 AC Milan this campaign) and 13 matches involving Verona.

Hellas Verona v AC Milan will be the Sunday night fixture on matchday 36 in Serie A, which began with two games on Friday: Inter 4-2 Empoli and Genoa 2-1 Juventus. The latest round of fixtures continued with Torino 0-1 Napoli, Sassuolo 1-1 Udinese and Lazio 2-0 Sampdoria on Saturday. Today has seen the following results so far: Spezia 1-3 Atalanta and Venezia 4-3 Bologna. Salernitana v Cagliari will kick off at 18:00 CEST this evening, while Fiorentina v Roma (20:45 CEST) will be played tomorrow.

This is the current league table: Inter 78, AC Milan* 77, Napoli 73, Juventus 69, Lazio 62, Roma* and Atalanta 59, Fiorentina* 56, Hellas Verona* 52, Sassuolo and Torino 47, Udinese 44, Bologna 43, Empoli 37, Sampdoria and Spezia 33, Salernitana* 29, Cagliari* and Genoa 28, Venezia 25. (* game in hand)

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