AC Milan coach Allegri faces former club Juventus in Turin return

MILAN (AP) — What reaction AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri will receive when he returns to Turin on Sunday is anyone’s guess.

Serie A table-topper Milan visits Juventus, where Allegri had two spells in charge.

Allegri’s first period on the Juventus bench ended in 2019 after guiding the Bianconeri to five straight titles. He returned in 2021 but was was fired a year ago for an ugly outburst directed at the referees during the Italian Cup final.

Allegri last faced the Bianconeri as an adversary almost exactly 12 years ago, when his Milan side lost to Antonio Conte’s Juventus.

Back at Milan, Allegri has had an immediate impact as the team has improved after an eighth-place finish last season that left the seven-time European champion out of continental competition.

After losing its Serie A opener at home to newly promoted Cremonese 2-1, Milan has won four straight matches and conceded just once — in last weekend’s victory over Napoli, the defending champion.

Milan moved atop the table, above Napoli and Roma on goal difference and one point above Juventus, which has drawn its past two matches but remained unbeaten.

Head-to-head record is the first tiebreaker at the end of the season.

Key matchups

How well Juventus does against Milan depends greatly on its ability to contain Christian Pulisic, the United States international who is in fine form eight months before a home World Cup. Pulisic has six goals and two assists in seven matches in the league and cup. He will next try to dazzle the giants of the Juventus defense — Bremer, Federico Gatti and Lloyd Kelly are all over 1.8 meters (six foot) tall.

Roma and Napoli will look to take advantage of any Milan slipup as they face winless pair Fiorentina and Genoa.

Players to watch

Two youngsters will be looking to add to their tallies after scoring their first Serie A goals last weekend.

The 20-year-old Pio Esposito, already touted as Italy’s next great center forward, scored Inter Milan’s second goal in a 2-0 win at Cagliari, where his older brother, Sebastiano, plays.

The 17-year-old Francesco Camarda, on loan at Lecce from Milan, scored deep in stoppage time to rescue a 2-2 draw against Bologna.

Inter hosts Cremonese on Saturday, when Lecce visits Parma.

Out of action

Key Inter forward Marcus Thuram pulling a hamstring in Tuesday’s routine 3-0 win over Slavia Prague in the Champions League.

Como will be without coach Cesc Fabregas, who is suspended for two matches, for its trip to Atalanta in a regional derby match. Como forward Jesús Rodríguez serves the first of a three-match suspension after he was red-carded last weekend for an off-the-ball punch and kick at a Cremonese opponent.

Atalanta’s Marten de Roon and Milan’s Pervis Estupiñán are suspended for one match after being sent off last weekend.

Off the field

AC Milan and Inter Milan passed a major hurdle in owning their own stadium after the city council approved the sale of San Siro to the clubs on Tuesday. The clubs plan to tear down the 99-year-old stadium and jointly build a new 71,500-seat arena — which will be designed by architectural firms Foster + Partners and Manica. The idea is to have a new stadium ready for when Italy co-hosts the 2032 European Championship with Turkey.

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