TIME MACHINE: UDINESE v AC MILAN

Udinese v AC Milan has not been played in the first half of the season since 2021/22. It will be the Rossoneri's second away game of the season, and the first after the international break, between games against Bologna and Napoli. There are many great games in Udine to look back on, but this time our Time Machine will take us to the 2-1 comeback win on 11 February 2021, decided by Maxi López and El Shaarawy's goals.

It was a bit of a difficult period at the time. Mister Allegri's side were reigning champions, and they were in the fight for the title once again, despite poor recent results, including a 0-0 home draw with Napoli and a 0-2 home defeat to Lazio. It was the first game without the star Ibrahimović, who was suspended because of a red card earned the weekend before in a tussle with Aronica. There were other interesting details: Guidolin's Udinese were in third place and also finished the season as such, Il Diavolo had many players out (Abbiati, Boateng, Van Bommel) and they were not far off their game in the Champions League Round of 16. It was a tough first half. Di Natale was everywhere in attack: he was creating and scored in the 19th minute thanks to a deflection off of Thiago Silva that beat Amelia. Isla and Domizzi then began pushing on.

Before the break, a flash of brilliance from El Shaarawy, but at the start of the second half Nocerino's close-range header missed the target. Something was changing, but you couldn't see this straight away. The turning point came when Maxi López entered the field, even though the Bianconeri were threatening when Domizzi and Danilo forced Amelia into a double save. In the 77th minute, El Shaarawy put in a venomous shot-cross which Handanovič parried towards Maxi López, who pounced and sealed the equaliser. After wasting two chances, in the 85th minute, from the counter-attack, Maxi López set up El Shaarawy who finished cleverly. Comeback complete and a big win that had been missing in Udine since 2008. It was the best way possible to set up for the game against Arsenal, however that year in Serie A didn't end the way we wanted it to.

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