AC Milan fans have got used to checking the starting line-up and seeing three names at the top, and that will continues tomorrow night against Rennes too.
As this morning’s edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes, Christian Pulisic, Olivier Giroud and Rafael Leao will be on the pitch from minute one against Rennes in the Europa League play-off round first leg.
The ‘Pu-Gi-Le’ line is the most used trident in Italy. In Serie A, Pioli chose them from the start – all together – for 17 out of 24 league matches and for four out of six matches in the Champions League. The total is 21 starts together, so let’s say he trusts them.
The comparison with the rest of Italy speaks volumes as well with Berardi, Pinamonti and Laurienté having played 15 matches together to get the silver medal, then Vlasic-Sanabria-Zapata started together 11 times for Torino and the others are under 10.
If proof were needed of the importance of those three forwards for Pioli, that is it. Pulisic, Giroud and Leao have combined for 20 assists in Serie A and no other trio – forwards or not – reaches that far in Italy.
Dimarco-Thuram-Mkhitaryan are at 18, Dybala-Pellegrini-Paredes at 13. Creativity is not lacking but there is a goal problem lurking, because the American, Frenchman and Portuguese know what to do with the ball but their numbers are worrying.
Pulisic hasn’t scored since December 30, Giroud has missed a couple of penalties, Leao has shot on target 10 times in six months.
The attackers from the bench (above all Luka Jovic and Noah Okafor) gave Milan a great hand, a real innovation compared to last season, but to make headway in the Europa League you need the heavyweights to perform, i.e. the Pu-Gi-Le trio.