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The new Milan not done brilliantly in Florence

Milan lost the season opener in Florence easily after getting into trouble following Ely's red card

Milan have done a great job over the summer but the season opener revealed that the new coach Mihajlovic still has a lot of work to do in his attempt to reinstate the winning mentality. All of the new acquisitions in spite, Milan didn't do well in Florence. Fiorentina seemed dominant from the very start and Milan has an extra problem when their young center back Ely was sent off in the first half. Diego Lopez did rather well on the goal but couldn't have done anything when Marcos Alonso fired a brilliant set-piece in the first half and when Ilicic scored from a penalty in the second half. 

Even though very good offensive players Bacca and Luiz Adriano joined Milan over the summer, it has been a wish of everyone in charge at the club to acquire a great striker. Ibrahimovic was the No.1 wish but the bad boy of the Italian football Mario Balotelli joined instead. He's on loan from Liverpool after manager Rodgers decided he no longer counts on him at all. Milan have promised to pay for half of his yearly salary this season. 

When talking about the next game, Mihajlovic first said a few words about Balotelli returning to Milan:

- Mario always had great potential, that was never the issue. The problem was always his head. We met and talked, he promised some things as you could read in the newspapers. It's now his turn to keep those promises. I'm sure he'll do it. He knows that he's blown away a few years of his carrier and he now wants to get back on the right track. Now it's the time for him to become a man. I don't think there is any point in talking about him any more. About what he ate, what he's wearing...Leave the boy alone. 

Mihajlovic talked about the Empoli match as well:

- We wanted to see a great game last Sunday. We had a slip in Florence but we knew that would be a tough away game. Fiorentina played with 9 players from last season while we changed a lot. I'm sorry that we failed to win but we now have to take three points home. I saw Empoli's first round match and I saw that they are a good team, regardless of the result. 

The suspended center back Ely, injured defender Mexes and forwards Menez and Nieng are all out today. Milan will once again play in the 4-3-1-2 formation with Luiz Adriano and Bacca as starters. Balotelli should wait for his chance on the bench. Midfielder Montolivo should start on the bench as well even though he publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with it. Milan's latest acquisition Kucka is at coach's disposal as well, while forward Matri and center back Paletta are not since they're waiting for their transfers from Milan to be confirmed. 

Empoli were one of the most pleasant surprises of the last season but since caoch Sarri and a few important players like Valdifiori and Hysaja left, the team from Tuscani seems to have lost the magic. New coach Giampaolo did not have a good start since Empoli first lost to second-tier Vicenza in the Cup and then lost the Serie A opener against Chievo home. Empoli's Saponara scored early to get his team in the lead. They controlled the game in the first half but went on to do unexpectedly badly in the second one. Maggiorini tied the score 10 minutes in the second half and Chievo went on to score two more times in the next 8 minutes. Empoli's defenders had a very tough time dealing with Chievo's wingers and Skorupski will want to forget about his debut at Empoli as soon as possible.

Empoli played Milan twice last season but Giampaolo won't have an easy task today as he attempts to extend the undefeated streak in head-to-head matches:

- We played a very good first half in the first game but we suffered a decline both physically and mentally in the second half after conceding three goals. We now need to think about a new start. Milan are always Milan and they are always the favorite on paper. I expect a team that wants to win home but we have to be careful and focused on our performance only. The team has been working well during the week. They are a team that have work hard-wired into their DNA.

The visitors from Tuscany will have to do without defender Laurini. Center back Tonelli is at coach's disposal for today. Empoli should be in the 4-2-3-1 lineup at San Siro today, with the well-experienced Maccarone starting as a striker. 

Milan started the season by losing an away match against Fiorentina, and Empoli were crushed at home by Chievo. Even though the Florence away match is one of the trickiest in the Serie A, even though the opponents scored twice from the set pieces (free kick and eleven-meter shot), and even though Milan spent over half the match with a player less - we couldn't see the strong Milan the new coach Mihajlović was announcing. Now Mihajlović will play his first at San Siro, and he really needs the win. He couldn't have picked a better opponent. Empoli were a hit of the league last year, but the key elements left the club. The great coach Sarri took the key players Valdidorfi and Hysay with him to Napoli, and the goalie Sepe and the experienced forward Tavano also left the club. What the new Giampaolo's Empoli showed in the first round wasn't good at all - a very insecure defense, the unreliable goalie Skorupski. Besides, Chievo managed to score three goals at Castellazio, and they're a team based completely on the defensive when they leave Verona. Empoli's defense will have a tough task now because Bacca and Luiz Adriano surely want to justify themselves after being criticized after the first match, and the bad boy Balotelli is back to Milan.