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Saturday September 12, 2009

All eyes on troubled AC Milan after derby humiliation

MILAN: The glare of the Italian media will be on AC Milan and their coach Leonardo on Saturday as the seven-time European champions travel to minnows Livorno.

Such a match against a newly-promoted team would normally be a stroll for a team of Milan’s stature and resources but things have not been going smoothly at the San Siro recently.

Milan began their season well following a troubled pre-season campaign that featured eight defeats in 11 matches and the loss of their best player, Kaka, to Real Madrid.

A win at Siena seemed to be a positive start to the new season but that proved a false dawn just a week later as champions and bitter city rivals Inter Milan handed their neighbours a footballing lesson in an embarrassingly one-sided 4-0 thumping.

That kind of blow can be fatal to already fragile confidence but while Milan’s hopes of winning a first Serie A title since 2004 have received a big reality check, they will be desperate to bounce back.

Leonardo insists they will continue along their path but it could prove to be a short journey for the Brazilian World Cup winner and former Milan player unless he turns things around quickly.

The one saving grace for Milan has been the two-week international break, which will have allowed the Inter wounds to heel, and Milan defender Luca Antonini is convinced that Leonardo will come good.

“We’ve started from scratch because we changed coach, we lost players such as Kaka and (Paolo) Maldini and hence we had to start all over,” he said.

“The boss has imposed a different type of work, even athletically. We’ll definitely now see the fruits of that labour.”

While Milan look to rebound, Inter will be hoping for more of the same as they seek to erase memories of their disappointing opening home match of the season, a 1-1 draw against newly promoted Bari.

They host another promoted team tomorrow against Parma, whose former Milan forward Alberto Paloschi will be looking to do his old team-mates a favour.

The match could see two of Italy’s brightest young strikers lining up against each other, as Paloschi’s Italy Under-21 team-mate Mario Balotelli plays for Inter.

Four teams go into the weekend games with 100% records and two of those face each other in the capital.

Lazio host Juventus, with the Turin giants boosted by their players’ dominant role in Italy’s midweek triumph over Bulgaria.

Seven Juve players started for the national team on Wednesday in their home stadium but five of those also played in Georgia on Saturday and Juve could be drained from their international exertions.

At the other end of the table, coach Claudio Ranieri begins his Roma career with a trip to Siena as he seeks to get his new employers off the mark for the season. — AFP

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