AC MILAN V HELLAS VERONA: KEYS TO THE MATCH

Last game of the season, last home game in front of the big Rossoneri crowd. AC Milan host Hellas Verona at San Siro, who are playing to avoid relegation to Serie B. There will be mixed feelings and different motivations on the pitch, for one team and the other. Let's analyse in detail the cues that this 38th matchday of Serie A 2022/23 could offer us.

BLOCKING THE SOURCES OF PLAY: VERDI E VELOSO
Simone Verdi is a former player of the match and the beacon of this Verona side. He switched on in the second half of the season, dragging the Scaligeri all the way here, just as he did last season when wearing the Salernitana shirt. Ambidextrous, he is dangerous on set pieces, but at the same time he knows how to hurt in various ways. With five goals, he is Verona's top scorer this season, and they only have one win in seven matches without him (14% win rate, 0.9 points average). This season, when it has proved necessary, AC Milan have always been good at working on their opponents' sources of play to limit their effectiveness and dangerousness. In addition to Verdi, watch out for Veloso, an experienced player who orchestrates play by positioning himself in front of the defence with his highly polished left boot. The Rossoneri's midfield will therefore have to work overtime with the help of the players in the middle of the park, who will be fundamental in the disturbing the Portuguese player.

WINNING DUELS
Hellas are an extremely physical team, who will put every energy into winning on Sunday: a positive result could prove crucial for staying up, and so a fighting team is to be expected on every ball, from the first to the last minute. Verona are the team who have won the most duels in this Serie A (2037) ahead of AC Milan (2018), and it is plausible that they will impose a particularly aggressive game plan, hoping for some drop in tension from the Rossoneri, who have already secured a place in the top four. And it is precisely here that the Rossoneri will have to show their maturity, managing Verona's pressing with quality and lucidity, trying wherever possible to send them offside. The objective will therefore be to bring the match on our track, of dribbling and searching for speed in transition in the spaces that the guests concede.

A GOOD START
AC Milan are, with 21 goals, the team that has scored the most in the first half hour of the game: 8 goals between the 1st minute and 15th minute, and 13 between the 16th minute and 30th minute. Apart from a few exceptions, especially in the month of January, AC Milan hardly ever got the approach to matches wrong, and in the 21 times they took the lead, 19 wins came as a result. Against Verona they can, and must, start the match in the best way, with the intention of opening the scoring in 'their half-hour' to then have space and time to manage it, with their most dangerous weapons. Our guests will have motivation and hunger for points, but at the same time they could show - especially at the beginning - haste and confusion in attack, typical of matches in which everything is at stake: AC Milan will need lucidity in stemming the agonism of the Veronesi and carefreeness in attacking spaces.

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