Player ratings:
Dida – N/A. Can you really rate him when he was rarely tested?Nevertheless, he did show signs of increasing self confidence.

Jankolvski – 6 – Had some good runs there and here, made some good moves, but at times didn’t click well on the defensive side, and his tackles were not always accurate.

Maldini – 7.5 – Maldini showed yet another great display. His tackles and interceptions were all at time. He barely did any mistake in the game.

Favalli – 6 – Favalli was quite good today, nothing great, but was good. He almost scored an own goal, but the post saved that.

Zambrotta -6.5- The Normal Zambrotta I must say, usual runs, usual penetrations, pretty normal. Nothing outstanding, but was no were near being bad.

Beckham -5.5 – Beckham wasn’t clicking today. His crosses were awful and never lead to anything good. His tackles were bad as well, and his temper got to him.

Pirlo – 7 – Yet another solid display by the playmaker. His movement was great, and most of his passes were intelligent, accurate, and fast.

Ambrosini 5.5 – I’d compare him to Becks today. He was no where near his form, and his tackles were no good. Nothing much to add.

Kaka -8- We saw the old glimpses of Kaka’, great runs and great penetrations. Although, today the most impressive thing about him were his 1-touch passes. Solid performance by Kaka’.

Seedorf – 6.5 – His passing was good. nothing much to add.

Inzaghi – 6.5- He takes the credit for scoring the goal, with a very nice one touch, but he should have got at least one more goal.

On the evening of the match against Siena, Carlo Ancelotti, the Milan boss, had a few words to say about Milan’s situation.

“We were good this week; we also had a few important players back to the squad. Now we must take that and change it into a positive result tomorrow at Siena and display a nice performance. Our win against Atalanta ended a bad period for Milan, and getting back some vital players will help us improve our displays in the matches. We are working to get as many points as we can from the remaining matches of the season. On paper, Roma, Fiorentina, and Genoa all have tough matches, but Milan need to win anyways.”

Talking about Siena, Carlo had the following to say:

“Siena is a good team they play a special tactic in our zone, and they have a very good defense which especially on their ground does very good. In the previous game against Siena we faced some difficulties, and playing against them wasn’t easy. Siena is well organized, and Kharja works really well. At home, they are a very dynamic team and I expect them to be very fast.”

The Milan coach also talked a bit about the Milan players, here is what he said:

“Kaka’ and Ronaldinho will be on the bench tomorrow. Bonera and Seedorf have problems, and I hope we get them back next week. Beckham played a good game against Atalanta; he’s a smart player who can fill any position. He’s worried because of his new position since he has never played in it. Gattuso has a lot to do to recover from his injury, and in a month duration he can comeback to train where as it would take him 2 months to start playing again.”

Talking about the exit of the Italian Teams from the Champions League, he said:

“Between the English Premier League and Serie A there is a gap that is hard to close next season.  For example, Manchester United is the most team that has matured and they’ve done a lot in 2 years and have proved to be a very competitive team.”

Carlo said that he will not give Inter much attention, especially Mourinho, and will concentrate more on Milan.

For Sunday’s Clash against Siena, the following Milan players were called up:

Abbiati, Dida, Kalac; Antonini, Darmian, Favalli, Jankulovski, Maldini, Senderos, Zambrotta; Ambrosini, Beckham, Emerson, Flamini, Pirlo; Inzaghi, Kakà, Pato, Shevchenko, Ronaldinho.

Were as the hosts, had the following players called up:

Amoruso, Barusso, Belmonte, Brandao, Calaiò, Codrea, Coppola, Curci, Del Grosso, Del Prete, Eleftheropoulos, Ficagna, Frick, Ghezzal, Jarolim, Kharja, Maccarone, Portanova, Rossi, Vergassola, Zuniga.

Carlo’s Men hope to gain the three points and to give a brilliant performance as well. The Milan’s fan are waiting for a positive result, anything less than 3 points will be considered disastrous.

The Beckham saga has pretty much ended, as Becks will be a Milanista till the 30th of June, as the official site of the Rossoneri had reported.

Injuries are still proving to be a great deal of trouble for the Milan side, as both Kaka’ and Seedorf are expected to be out of the game, where as Ronaldinho and Beckham will most probably be present in the game, the later who faced a minor injury while training is expected to be in the starting 11.

Pato will most probably lead the Milan attack with a partnership with Super Pippo, and the Milan fans have their fingers crossed hoping that Pato maintains his current performance and hopefully improve it.

Siena aren’t in the best of situations as they are only 7 points above Cheivo, who stand in the 18th position. A win or even a draw would prove very important for Siena. Where as, Milan continue their battle for protecting their 3rd place position, and a win will give them a breath as they travel to Napoli next week.

Last time around, Nesta was able to get the equalizer for the Milanista in the dying minutes of their match against Siena at the latter’s home ground. As that game ended in a 1-1 draw; Milan hope that things will change this time and that they end up getting the 3 full points.

The Disciplinary Situation:

The Rossoneri are without suspended players in view of Sunday’s match at Siena. Three players are within a booking of suspension: Ambrosini, Jankulovski and Kaladze. For Siena, instead, one suspended player (Galloppa) and five players within a booking of suspension: Amoruso, Calaiò, Coppola, Maccarone and Portanova.

Probable Formation:

Siena

Curci; Del Grosso, Brandao, Portanova, Zuniga; Vergassola, Codrea, Jarolim; Kharja; Maccarone, Ghezzal

Milan:

Abbiati, Zambrotta, Maldini, Bonera, Jankolvski, Beckham, Pirlo, Flamini, Ambrosini, Pato, Inzaghi

Prediction:

Siena 1 – 2 Milan

Milan’s defense has been far from convincing and lately they produced blunders after each other, although the good midfield and the great attack of Milan will most probably bring home the 3 points.

Referees: Nicola Ayroldi, he will be assisted by Pirondini and Maggiani where as the 4th official will be Celi.

Stadium: Artemio Franchi’ stadium of Siena

Time: 3 PM Italian Time.

Atalanta came to Milan missing their 2 main players up front, where as Milan where missing about 6 starting 11 players. That didn’t prove costly for Milan, as a great display by Abbiati and a hatrick by Pippo was enough to give Milan the whole 3 points.

Official Formations for the match:

Milan (4-3-1-2): Abbiati; Bonera (84’ Antonini), Senderos, Maldini, Zambrotta; Flamini, Pirlo, Jankulovski; Beckham (90’ Viudez); Pato, Inzaghi (80’ Shevchenko).

Atalanta (4-4-1-1): Consigli; Garics, Talamonti, Bellini, Peluso; Ferreira Pinto (66’ Defendi), Guarente (60’ De Ascentis), Cigarini (76’ Parravicini), Valdes; Padoin; Plasmati.

The match started with Atalnta seeming to be the better side, but that wasn’t enough to stop Super Pippo from opening the score in the 7th minute, a good pass from Jankolvski saw Pippo shake the net after a well placed shot. For the rest of the half, it was a clash between Abbiati and the Atalanta team, Atalanta produced great chances but Abbiati was there to stop them all; a great display from Abbiati proving once again why he’s the Milan #1 goalie. Despite Atalanta’s dominance in the first half, Pato and Pippo both had few chances that they wasted, and Atalanta’s offside trap worked perfectly. The referee whistled the end of the first half, ending a bad performance from Milan despite their goal. 

The second half started with Milan showing glimpse of improvments; some great movement by Jankolvski and Beckham where the reason behind that. Despite that, Atalanta still was able to cause threat to the Milan goal, but non was able to get past Abbiati. It wasn’t until the 71 minute that Milan were able to put the 3 points in the bag, when Inzaghi beated the offside trap, and went on to overcome the goalie and score the goal after an impressive pass by Our Ducky. With Atalanta pushing forward hoping for a goal, a great 1-2 by Jankolvski and Zambrotta saw Inzaghi score his third for the night, scoring his 108th goal for Milan and breaking th record  of theMilan Legend Giusepe Santgostino who had 106 goals in the Milan Shirt, and who was the 7th best scorer in Milan’s history. The referee whistled the end of the second half and the match, as the Milan fans sang :”Milan Milan Sempre Per Te….Milan Milan Solo Con Te”.

Because of Fiorentina’s  and Genoa’s loss, and Roma’s draw against Udinese Milan were able to widen the gap between them and Fiorentina to 5 points, giving Milan a breathe as they had to Seina next week hoping to have a few players recovered.

Pato;s performance wasn’t as convincing as his performances lately, but he still was able to caush threat on the Atalanta goal and gain Milan 1 or 2 free-kicks, add to that his assist leading to Pippo’s second goal.

Pato-Fans Man Of the Match:

Abbiati- Despite Pippo scoring three goals, Abbiati was the most important player out there. Had it not been for his great saves, Milan probably wouldn’t have gained all 3 points.

Scorers:

Pippi Inzaghi – 7′, 71′, 74’

Bookings:

 Bonera, Jankulovski ; Bellini, Peluso

Final Score:

Milan 3 – 0 Atalanta

The Official Formations were the following:
SAMPDORIA: Castellazzi, Raggi, Lucchini, Accardi, Stankevicius, Sammarco, Palombo, Franceschini, Pieri, Pazzini, Cassano.

MILAN: Abbiati, Zambrotta, Bonera, Senderos, Antonini, Beckham, Pirlo, Flamini, Jankulovski, Seedorf, Pato

The match, as recently, started off slow with Sampdoria clearly being the better side on the pitch.  Milan seemed too fragile , with only few players out there trying to turn the game around, Pato and Flamini among the few. Despite Pato’s constant movement that troubled the Sampdoria defense, and Flamini’s defensive abilities, Cassano was the one to open the score at the 33 minute, his header just past the goal line, and it needed an eagle eye from the linesman to spot it. The fans in the stadium where silent for a moment, and then exploded in cheering after the goal. The referee, later on, blew his whistle to end yet another disappointing half for Ac Milan.

Second half, same story, nothing much from Milan except from few great movements from Pato. On the other side of the pitch, Pazzini the Sampdoria’s New-Comer, scored a goal just after 7 minutes from the start of the second half, a goal that took much skill from him. Pato was seen trying and trying, and it wasn’t until the 80th minute that he was able to head in a cross from the substitute, Favalli, a goal that saw him add his tally of Serie A goals for this season to 12. Despite a better display in the last 10 minutes, Milan where not able to earn even a point, as the Milan players left the pitch disappointed.

Pato was by far the best Milan player out there, along side Flamini who was seen “battling and fighting” for the ball.

Scorers:

Cassano-33′

Pazzini-52′

Pato-80′

Final Score:

Sampdoria 2 – 1 Milan

The official formations of both teams where the following:

MILAN: Abbiati; Zambrotta, Bonera, Maldini, Favalli; Pirlo, Flamini, Jankulovski; Beckham, Seedorf, Inzaghi.
CAGLIARI: Marchetti; Pisano, Canini, Lopez, Matheu; Fini, Conti, Biondini; Cossu; Jeda, Acquafresca.

The match started off slow, with barely any chance for both sides. Milan’s few chances in the first half came from good passes by both, Jankolvski and Pirlo which Pippo didn’t manage to put in the goal. Abbiati did a couple of great saves, allowing Milan to end the first half without conceding a goal.

Second half started, and both teams were trying to score a goal, but with barely a link between the midfield and the offense in the Milan team it was hard to believe that Milan can score, especially with Seedorf being marked by 2 players at least. A blunder from the Cagliari defense saw Seedorf take use of it and score from a well placed shot, silencing the Milan fans that had shown their disappointment from his performance earlier in the match by whistling. Milan tried to double their lead as Cagliari tried to get the equalizer, but both teams were not able to reach their objective as the referee whistled to end yet another boring display by Ac Milan.

Yet again the referee had his blunders that might have  changed the course of the match. Few offsides were called against Cagliari that shouldn’t have been called, and Pippo barely pushed one of Cagliari’s defenders causing the blunder that lead to Seedorf’s goal. Flamini deserved a penalty that wasn’t called.

After the game, Ancelotti declared that the fans “might be fed up with him” leading to rumors that this is his last season with the Rosseneri.

Final Score:

Milan 1 – 0 Cagliari

Scorers:

Seedorf-65′

Photos and Summary of the match to follow…

The 1-1 from Diego.