Stefano Pioli was forced to make a late change to AC Milan’s starting line-up for the game against Juventus as Mike Maignan suffered an injury during the warm-ups.
Just moments before the teams were due in the tunnel, news emerged that Maignan would not be starting between the posts and that it would instead be the veteran back-up Marco Sportiello.
According to what is being reported by MilanNews, the French goalkeeper has suffered an adductor strain in the warm-ups and thus the decision was made to remove him from the team, with Sportiello getting the nod instead.
Further information on the severity of the issue that Maignan has will emerge in the hours and days after the game, but it is certainly another frustrating blow for the former Lille man who has had several muscle problems since being at Milan.
Added to that is the fact that there is a defensive crisis for Pioli to battle. Simon Kjaer and Pierre Kalulu are both injured, while Fikayo Tomori picked up his fifth yellow card in the Inter game and thus a one-match ban.
Theo Hernandez and Davide Calabria got straight red cards in Monday’s defeat, which means they are watching from the sidelines too.
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