Milan in Europe 2017/18

6-0 in the 86th. borini, antonelli, and montolivo got his second. looks like the young pups will get some time on the field next week in the away leg.

 

6-0 ft. well played by the guys.

 

now now, boys. leave twinkle toes alone.

 

let's remember the team we played is essentially a jv squad, but if montolivo is going to have this kind of performance with the new players he has around him, it's a good thing for milan. i've been pretty critical of him since he's arrived. he's been a dud for the most part. if he can raise his game to this level consistently though, it's almost like having another new player in the mix. he'd be another option to give us some creativity in the midfield. maybe he just needed better players around him?

 

it looks like we're set to run out an experimental side today in a 352. here's the expected line-up: storari; zapata, bonucci, romagnoli; calabria, mauri, locatelli, zanaletto, antonelli; cutrone, silva. it's good to see the kids getting more time. hopefully they can build on the 6-goal lead we earned last week.

 

1-0 good guys at half. cutrone scored again. anyone watching?

 

1-0 ft. we advance. let's hope for an interesting draw so fox will put our games on tv.

 

we're in group d with austria vienna, nk rijeka, and aek athens. we shouldn't have any problem advancing from that group. hopefully we get our young guys some time in these games and then really hit the gas after the winter break. there's no reason we can't win this regardless of the knockout draws.

GROUP A: Villarreal, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Astana, Slavia Prague
GROUP B: Dynamo Kiev, Young Boys, Partizan Belgrade, Skenderbeu
GROUP C: Braga, Ludogorets Razgrad, Hoffenheim, Istanbul Basaksehir

GROUP D: AC Milan, Austria Vienna, NK Rijeka, AEK Athens

GROUP E: Lyon, Everton, Atalanta, Apollon Limassol
GROUP F: FC Copenhagen, Lokomotiv Moscow, FC Sheriff, FC Zlin
GROUP G: Viktoria Plzen, FCSB, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, FC Lugano
GROUP H: Arsenal, BATE Borisov, Cologne, Red Star Belgrade
GROUP I: FC Salzburg, Marseille, Vitoria Guimaraes, Konyaspor
GROUP J: Athletic Bilbao, Hertha Berlin, Zorya Luhansk, Ostersunds
GROUP K: Lazio, Nice, Zulte Waregem, Vitesse Arnhem
GROUP L: Zenit St. Petersburg, Real Sociedad, Rosenborg, Vardar Skopje

atalanta got a killer group with both lyon and everton. lazio shouldn't have trouble advancing alongside nice (balotelli and wesley sneijder). other than atalanta's group, i don't see too much to get excited about.

 

it's game day, people. milan play fk austria wien in vienna today at 1:00 eastern. the game will be available on espn3.

obviously we're coming off a disappointing result sunday morning after a flying start to the season. austria are undefeated in their last five league matches. they finished second in the austrian bundesliga last season to earn their EL place. so far in the EL they've defeated cypriots AEL and squeaked by osijek of croatia on away goals. i don't recognize any names on their roster which is made up mostly of austrians with a few others thrown in. they're coached by torsten fink, who i've never heard of. it looks like he had a decent playing resume though and he's coached at basel, hamburger, apeol (briefly), and now austria.

rumors are saying we'll line up in a 352, and kalinic will get his first start. i won't be able to watch live, but i'll catch a replay on watchespn this evening. forza milan.

 

2-0 good guys in the 11th minute. calhanoglu got the first, and then he played silva in for the second. they could get ugly.

 

3-0 at half. silva got his second. since we jumped on them early, i've just been listening and getting some work done.

 

3-1 48'. zapata does a zapata. ruh roh. here they come.