Higuain faces former club as Juve look to extend Serie A lead in Milan
By Matt Addison
There are already 10 points between AC Milan and Serie A leaders Juventus with 11 games played.
When Cristiano Ronaldo moved from Real Madrid to Turin in July amid scenes of mass hysteria, someone had to be the fall guy at Juventus to make way for the superstar’s arrival.
Argentinean Gonzalo Higuain was to be that man; he moved to AC Milan to free up space for the Portuguese.
Higuain was forced off for Milan with a slight back injury last weekend against Udinese, but is expected to return to face his former club.
He will be desperate to prove himself against his former employers, for whom he scored 40 league goals in two seasons, and will have even more motivation than usual to demonstrate his ability.
Key battles
Higuain is Milan’s main man, and assuming he’s fit to start, he’ll be the focal point around which most of their hopes hinge.
Such is Juve’s squad depth, Daniele Rugani and Giorgio Chiellini could be tasked with keeping him under wraps, but Leonardo Bonucci and Medhi Benatia are the front-runners to start in central defense.
Suso will be the main source of creativity for the hosts Milan; he has racked up an impressive eight assists in Serie A this season to go with four goals.
Milan defenders Alessio Romagnoli and Cristian Zapata will face the monumental task of keeping Paulo Dybala and Ronaldo quiet, as well as either Douglas Costa or Juan Cuadrado.
Dybala only has two Serie A goals so far this season, but has four in the Champions League in three matches, proving he steps up when the big games come around.
In midfield, there is something of a mismatch with Tiemoue Bakayoko and Franck Kessie, two decent players, coming up against the exceptional Miralem Pjanic, Rodrigo Bentancur and Blaise Matuidi.
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Previous meetings
The teams met three times last season, twice in the league and once in the Coppa Italia, with Juve winning all three games by a combined score of nine goals to one.
The last time AC Milan won in normal time against Juve was in October 2016 when they won 1-0 at the San Siro thanks to a goal from Manuel Locatelli, although they did also beat them on penalties in the Super Cup in December the same year.
You have to go back another four years to November 2012 for Milan’s previous victory, while the last time the teams drew in Serie A was February 2012.
In the last 26 matches between the sides, Juve have been dominant, winning 17 times to Milan’s five. If the gap at the summit is to be closed, that dismal record will have to be addressed.