Amorim relishing 'special' San Siro bow but warns Milan over Venezia threat
Amorim relishing 'special' San Siro bow but warns Milan over Venezia threat
Milan, Italy — Ruben Amorim makes his San Siro debut as AC Milan boss this weekend against Venezia, and the Portuguese coach has described the occasion as a "special day" while warning his players not to underestimate the visitors.
Amorim opened his tenure with a 2-1 win over Torino last time out, with Adrien Rabiot contributing a goal and an assist. Now he is targeting another victory in front of the Rossoneri faithful, though history suggests Venezia will present a stubborn challenge.
"I think it's going to be a special day for me as a coach. I'm going to feel the responsibility; I'm going to be focused on the game," Amorim said. "But I will try to enjoy the moment where I feel the game for the first time in San Siro."
The manager, however, is wary of Venezia's ball-playing approach. "I expect a very difficult match. If you watch the game against Lecce, if you just see the result, you don't understand what sort of team Venezia is," he added. "They will have the ball, San Siro will be a little bit nervous because they are really good at having the ball. We need to be really smart, we need to be really humble in the way we press, in the way we run, because we are going to have to run, and we need to be really strong with the ball because they will mark us man to man, especially at the beginning."
Milestone within reach
Amorim is chasing a piece of club history. Only eight Milan managers have won their first two Serie A matches after debuting at the start of a season, and just two of those — Alberto Zaccheroni in 1998 and Filippo Inzaghi in 2014 — have done so in the three-points-for-a-win era.
Elsewhere, teenage forward Alphadjo Cisse scored his first Serie A goal for Milan aged 19 years and 305 days. Should he find the net against Venezia, he would become the youngest player to score in his first two Serie A appearances for the Rossoneri in the three-points era (19 years and 310 days), surpassing the record previously held by Mario Balotelli and Andriy Shevchenko, who both achieved the feat aged 22.
On the opposing side, new signing Akor Adams is one to watch after Venezia registered an expected goals value of more than one (2.1) on the opening matchday without scoring. They were one of only two teams — alongside Bologna — to fail to convert despite those chances, with Adams among seven Venezia players to attempt at least two shots.
History points to a Milan win
The statistics favour the hosts. Milan have won their last five Serie A meetings with Venezia, scoring at least two goals each time and keeping a clean sheet in the last four — their longest run of consecutive shutouts against the lagoon side. The Rossoneri are also unbeaten in their last 10 home league matches against Venezia (W8 D2); among current top-flight teams, only Lecce (14) and Torino (30) have longer ongoing unbeaten home runs against them.
Venezia, meanwhile, have lost 18 Serie A games against Milan (W4 D6), equalling their most defeats against any single opponent alongside Juventus. The visitors have not won either of their opening two matches of a Serie A season since 1946, recording five draws and 14 defeats across 19 such games in nine different campaigns. They have also participated in the most seasons in the Italian top flight (14) without ever winning their opening away game (D3 L11).
Milan suffered a shock home defeat on the opening day last season (1-2 against Cremonese), which ended a run of 11 consecutive wins and one draw at San Siro — a result Amorim will hope to avoid repeating.
Prediction
According to Opta's win probability model, AC Milan are clear favourites with a 65.5% chance of victory, ahead of a 20.1% probability of a draw and 14.4% for a Venezia upset.