Mike Maignan will be sidelined tomorrow against Verona due to a minor muscle ailment he sustained against Newcastle. So, as a new player for the season, Marco Sportiello is prepared to play.
At the conclusion of the previous campaign, Milan released Ciprian Tatarusanu and brought in Sportiello as a free agent from Atalanta. The following 1-2 games will be missed by Maignan, therefore the 31-year-old will now need to step up.
According to Gazzetta Dello Sport, Maignan has not played a single season for Milan without suffering an injury. This also implies that there is a lot of information available on the Rossoneri’s performance without him.
Milan averaged 2.05 points per game during the 2021–22 season with the Frenchman (39 games), compared to 1.88 with Tayarusanu (9 games). In comparison to Tatarusanu, Maignan let up a goal every 107 minutes on average.
Milan averaged 1.69 points per game with the Frenchman (29 games) and Tayarusanu (23 games) in the 2022–23 season, most likely as a result of the difficult January–February stretch.
In that season, Tatarusanu averaged a goal allowed every 70 minutes, compared to Maignan’s goal allowed every 100 minutes. How well the Rossoneri perform with Sportiello in goal is still up in the air.
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Due to Mike Maignan’s absence, Marco Sportiello will start tomorrow’s match between AC Milan and Hellas Verona. Stefano Pioli voiced faith in the goalie during the news conference.
Due to a small muscle ache, Maignan departed the game against Newcastle early, and Sportiello took over his responsibilities. The Italian performed well to block the attempt even though he just had to make one save.
The former Atalanta player will start tomorrow afternoon, and Pioli was questioned about this during his pre-game press conference. He was specifically questioned about how the build-up phase will be impacted.
He is prepared to assist us even during the build-up period because he is well familiar with our positions and game ideas. The goalie tomorrow will likely have more time to set up the play than he did against Torino, he said.
The match against Lazio the next week is when Maignan is anticipated to return, and he might even play for Cagliari. In any event, the Frenchman’s injury is not serious, and Milan can now sigh with satisfaction.
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