Mike Maignan MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP
France goalkeeper Mike Maignan, who has been absent from the field since September due to left calf injuries, will return to competition with AC Milan on Sunday.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has yet to play this season after having surgery on his left knee at the end of May, is also “ready“To play his first minutes, after having remained on the bench in the last two meetings, said Stefano Pioli at a press conference. “Mike is fine and he will play tomorrow (Sunday, editor’s note)“, announced the coach regarding his 27-year-old doorman. “He was the best goalkeeper last season, he brings us so much in so many different situations. He hasn’t played for five months, he’s fine, mentally and physically, but he too will need time to find his rhythm“, he added. The ex-Lillois lived these months away from the pitch “like a lion in a cage, he is very motivated“Said Pioli, while welcoming the performances of his replacement Ciprian Tatarusanu since September:”He did his duty, I’m very happy with what he did.»
Maignan, who resumed collective training at the start of the week, will therefore have two league matches, against Atalanta then Fiorentina, to regain his feelings before the knockout round of the Champions League against Tottenham on March 8 ( Milan’s 1-0 first leg victory). Mike Maignan injured his left calf for the first time with the Blues in September during a League of Nations match against Austria (2-0). While his return to the field was imminent, he suffered a relapse in October, which forced him to give up the World Cup as Lloris’ understudy.
After the international retirement of Lloris, Maignan (5 selections), international since 2019, is the big favorite to become the holder in the cage of the vice-world champions. The next match of the Blues is scheduled for March 24 against the Netherlands, as part of the qualifications for Euro-2024. Regarding Ibrahimovic, 41, he “could“Also find the field against Atalanta, underlined Pioli. “The first call was to bring him back to the group, he made a lot of sacrifices, now he is ready“Said the technician about the Swedish veteran, a great architect of the return to the top of the Rossoneri since his return to Lombardy in January 2020.
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