Allegri explains Milan tactical twist: ‘Ricci can work around Modric’

Max Allegri explains his Milan midfield choices for tonight’s trip to Roma, noting that Samuele Ricci can make the most of the man-marking on Luka Modric.

It kicks off at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome at 19.45 GMT (20.45 CET).

You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from today’s Serie A games on the Liveblog.

The Rossoneri are torn between pushing to stay in the Scudetto race and looking over their shoulders in the increasingly tight battle for a Champions League spot.

“When you play against teams who go man for man, you must be precise technically. They are in great shape and have a lot of talent, so it’ll be a very good game,” Allegri told DAZN Italia.

Ricci is a surprise in midfield with Modric and Adrien Rabiot, sending Ardon Jashari and Youssouf Fofana to the bench.

“He is in a good period of form, everyone is in pretty good shape, but in terms of midfielders he is closest to Modric’s characteristics, so can give Modric a little more freedom. He can drop deeper or be a mezz’ala to protect the defence.”

Modric said that he was surprised at being man-marked in every Serie A match to a degree he was unaccustomed to, so should the ex-Real Madrid man expect the same tonight?

“When he came off the bench against Lecce, he was man-marked, so it seems to be a recurring theme. This is why the others have to do well around him.”

Santiago Gimenez is the only remaining absentee, as Alexis Saelemaekers shook off a knock to start against his former club.

Strahinja Pavlovic is on the bench after nine stitches to his head, so Koni De Winter maintains the place in defence.

Milan are unbeaten since the opening weekend in Serie A, so as Bayern Munich lost yesterday in the Bundesliga, they have the longest positive streak in Europe’s top five leagues.

The Stadio Olimpico is also special for Allegri, as it was with a 0-0 draw here where he won his first Scudetto for Milan in 2011, but also the venue for that fiery Coppa Italia Final that saw him sacked by Juventus.

“Life is wonderful precisely because you have these incidents and coincidences. It was a lovely night winning the title here, we have a very difficult game this evening, but we hope to get a positive result tonight to keep our journey going and take another small step forward.

“Juventus beat Napoli today, so they’re really crammed together behind us, it’s going to be a long road ahead and we need patience,” added Allegri.