Milan and Cagliari meet this Tuesday in Milan, to decide who advances to the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia.
Milan
Milan arrives for this clash with a sequence of 4 unbeaten matches, 3 of which are in the Italian first division and one in the last round of the Champions League group stage.
Even though they beat Newcastle away from home in the Champions League, 2-1, Milan did not qualify for the round of 16 of the competition.
They finished third in the group, and will compete in the Europa League in the second half of the year. Now the team pays full attention to national competitions.
In the first division, the team beat Sassuolo in the last round, by one to zero.
They are trying to get closer to the championship leader, but today they are 9 points behind Inter.
Therefore, the Coppa Italia at this moment is an obligation for the team, at least to reach the final stages, and that is why they come under a lot of pressure against Cagliari.
This will be their debut in the competition, as until the round of 16, the best teams in Italian football awaited their competitors.
Playing as home team, the team has won 4 games in a row in the Italian league, but recently also lost to Dortmund, Udinese and Juventus.
Cagliari
Their opponent this Tuesday will be Cagliari, who are going through a bad moment and come from 3 matches without a positive result in the first division.
In the last round, they had a goalless draw at home against Empoli, further worsening their situation in the national league.
Cagliari is the first team in the relegation zone, with 14 points. It still has the means to fight for its salvation, but its campaign is very weak.
There are only 3 wins in 18 games, with 5 draws and 10 defeats, and the team is certainly inferior to Milan in this match.
Cagliari, unlike Milan, had to play for the Italian Cup in the previous stages.
They started playing at home against Palermo, in a match that ended in a goalless draw in normal time. The team only managed to qualify in extra time.
In the phase before this, playing away from home, they also managed to beat Udinese in extra time.
After a one-one draw in normal time, they won one-nil in extra time.
Milan will certainly be their biggest challenge in the competition and due to the fact that they play away from home, against one of the main teams in the country, favoritism does not belong to Cagliari
This season the teams already faced each other in September, with Cagliari in charge, and Milan won by a score of 3-1.
Conclusion:
This way, at least in theory, the Milan team enters with absolute favoritism. Their odds are still low for victory, but the handicap line seems like an interesting option to me and will be my betting choice.