Meeting in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals, AC Milan and Roma will aim to shake off their Serie A woes and secure a semi-final spot on Wednesday.
After both took part in high-profile games with a dramatic finale last weekend, the pair convene at San Siro for a midweek cup clash.
A month on from their five-goal thriller in Riyadh, Milan and city rivals Inter Milan met for a more conventional Derby della Madonnina on Sunday, with the Rossoneri aiming to beat their old foes for the third time this season.
Indeed, Sergio Conceicao’s side came within a whisker of doing just that, having held onto a lead earned by Tijjani Reijnders deep into stoppage time, only for Stefan de Vrij to pop up with a last-gasp leveller.
Therefore, Milan remain far behind in the Serie A standings, with a 16-point deficit to second-placed Inter – they sit eighth, facing a fight to salvage European qualification from an inconsistent campaign.
Having come back from two goals down to win last month’s Supercoppa Italiana final, the Rossoneri already have some silverware in the bag, but they are now intent on improving a sub-par record in Italy’s national cup.
Beaten by local rivals Atalanta BC in last season’s quarter-finals, the Lombardy giants’ sole Coppa Italia success in almost half a century came almost 22 years ago.
They entered this year’s edition at the last-16 stage due to their commitments in the Champions League – where last week’s defeat to Dinamo Zageb dropped them into the playoffs – and Samuel Chukwueze bagged a brace during December’s 6-1 demolition of bogey team Sassuolo.
After Juve and Inter, Milan (24) and Roma (22) have reached the semis more often than any other club, and it was the second-city side that won their most recent clash at this stage – Milan triumphed in both legs 2-1 back in 2004.
Roma actually prevailed in their most recent Coppa contest against the Rossoneri, played 18 years ago; however, the capital club have not progressed past the quarters since 2017.
At the very end of last year, the Giallorossi held Milan to a 1-1 league draw, with Reijnders netting the opener before Paulo Dybala equalised at San Siro.
That result was part of a revival produced by interim coach Claudio Ranieri, who took over his boyhood club amid chaos on and off the pitch. After inching up to ninth thanks to some improved results, they then secured Europa League progress by beating Eintracht Frankfurt.
Roma’s new-found resilience was truly put to the test on Sunday, when Serie A leaders Napoli paid a visit to Stadio Olimpico for the Derby del Sole.
Their former full-back Leonardo Spinazzola scored against his old club to put the Partenopei on track for an eighth straight win, but with time running out, Angelino strode into the box and fired home a late leveller.
Ranieri’s men are now unbeaten in seven Serie A matches, after losing seven of the previous nine – albeit they have still won just once on the road all season.
After a frantic week of trading, Milan have added Mexican striker Santiago Gimenez to their ranks, while Alvaro Morata has agreed to join Galatasaray on an initial loan deal; former club captain Davide Calabria has also left for Bologna.
Sergio Conceicao can now call upon Youssouf Fofana, after the French midfielder served a suspension last weekend, but injured trio Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Emerson Royal and Alessandro Florenzi are still unavailable.
With Saturday’s league trip to Empoli soon followed by a Champions League playoff against Feyenoord, the hosts may make changes, but Tammy Abraham is likely to continue up front.
Meanwhile, Roma have cleared concerns about the fitness of Manu Kone and ex-Milan man Stephan El Shaarawy, both of whom sustained knocks against Napoli.
Therefore, only suspended centre-back Gianluca Mancini will miss out on the midweek trip to San Siro – after being rested on Sunday, Mats Hummels should return.
Claudio Ranieri’s preferred front pairing of Artem Dovbyk and Paulo Dybala were also benched for the Derby del Sole, but both are set to come back into the starting XI. Down the years, Dybala has scored 10 goals against Milan, but only one in the Coppa Italia.
AC Milan possible starting lineup:
Maignan; Walker, Tomori, Pavlovic, Hernandez; Musah, Fofana, Reijnders; Pulisic, Abraham, Leao
Roma possible starting lineup:
Svilar; Rensch, Hummels, Ndicka; Saelemaekers, Kone, Paredes, Pellegrini, Angelino; Dybala, Dovbyk
