SASSUOLO v AC MILAN: DUELS

90 minutes where there will be no shortage of emotions, tension and difficulties. The last obstacle that the Rossoneri need to overcome to win the Scudetto are Sassuolo, a team with a lot of attacking talent and who returned to winning ways by beating Bologna on Sunday. Huge numbers will watch the match at the Mapei Stadium, which will be decided by what happens in the various areas of the pitch. Let’s take a closer look at the most interesting duels potentially coming up.

GIANLUCA SCAMACCA v OLIVIER GIROUD
Sassuolo v AC Milan pits together two of the three teams that have had the most shots during the second half of the season, so it makes sense to start with the centre-forward battle. The 23-year-old Italian is enjoying a real breakthrough season: he’s bagged 16 goals so far, making the 2021/22 campaign the first time he’s reached double figures. Scamacca, who found the net in the reverse fixture, could become the first Italian player under the age of 25 to score more than 16 times in a single Serie A season since 2017. Meanwhile, Giroud is aiming to reach the ten-goal mark in the Italian top flight: should he net, he’d be the oldest player to break into double figures in a debut Serie A season, thus moving ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo in this regard. The former Chelsea man, who has been on the scoresheet in three memorable away games during the second half of the campaign (against Inter, Napoli and Lazio), could follow in the footsteps of Papin and Ménez to become the third Frenchman to bag 10+ goals for AC Milan in a top-flight season.

DAVIDE FRATTESI v SANDRO TONALI
Frattesi and Tonali have been among the best Under-23 midfielders in Serie A this campaign. The man from Rome, who is enjoying his first top-flight season after two excellent years in Serie B with Empoli and Monza, has scored four goals and provided three assists this year, and he’s now an indispensable mainstay in Dionisi’s midfield. Meanwhile, Tonali has found the net on five occasions, with four of these goals having come on the road. Sandro, who played a pivotal role in the team’s last two away matches against Lazio and Hellas Verona, is the Rossonero with the most appearances to his name this league campaign (35, the same as Saelemaekers), while he’s also the AC Milan player who has made the most passes in the opposition half of the pitch.

DOMENICO BERARDI v RAFAEL LEÃO
They play on different flanks but have both been fantastic this season, putting up some brilliant numbers. For the third consecutive season (and the fifth time in his career), the European Champion has reached double goalscoring figures, while he’s also provided more assists than anyone else in Serie A (14). Berardi enjoys playing against AC Milan: they’re the team he’s bagged the most goals against in his career (ten). The 27-year-old is high on the leaderboard when it comes to shots attempted (fourth with 105), shot participations (first with 186) and chances created (third with 81) in Italy’s top division. As for Leão, he’s broken into double figures for the first time in his career, although his last seven league goals have come at San Siro (the last time he scored on the road was against Bologna on 23 October). Rafa is leading the way in Serie A in terms of successful dribbles (95, 30 more than the next best) and goals after dribbles (six). Now, he’s returning to the stadium where he broke a record in 2020/21: in December 2020, he scored the fastest-ever goal in the Italian top flight.

GIAN MARCO FERRARI v FIKAYO TOMORI
It’s not all about attacking players, and, in a match where a draw would be enough for the Rossoneri to clinch the title, the defensive side of things shouldn’t be overlooked. Ferrari, who is in his fourth season with Sassuolo, is the leading Neroverdi player in terms of clearances and shots blocked, while he’s also high in the Serie A ranking for number of passes (fourth with 2203). As for Tomori, no AC Milan player has done better than him when it comes to passes, tackles, clearances, blocks and interceptions. It’s clear, then, that he’s made a huge contribution to AC Milan’s fantastic defensive numbers: the Rossoneri have conceded just twice in their last ten league games and only nine times during the second half of the season. Given that Sassuolo have shipped the most goals from set-pieces, Tomori might fancy his chances in the opposition penalty box, too.

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