epa11697998 AC Milan’s coach Paulo Fonseca before the Italian Serie A soccer match between AC Monza and AC Milan at U-Power stadium in Monza, Italy, 02 November 2024. EPA-EFE/ROBERTO BREGANI

Paulo Fonseca confirms that Rafael Leao and Tammy Abraham will operate “differently” on a tactical level under his leadership in Milan as they face Sassuolo in the Coppa Italia round of 16.

It starts at 8pm GMT in San Siro.

You can follow the entire build-up and action in the live blog.

The winners of this clash will face either Roma or Sampdoria in the quarter-finals of the competition.

There is no extension. If the teams still have the same score after 90 minutes, the game will go straight to a penalty shootout.

“It’s a competition that I really like and I think we have a good chance of going far,” Fonseca told Sport Mediaset.

“With the way the system is organized, it helps the best teams reach the semi-finals and then it depends on the quality of those teams.

“We are Milan, we are ambitious and want to be in the final of the Coppa Italia.”

It is a competition that this club has not won in 21 years, although Fonseca has a good record in the Ukrainian and Portuguese versions of the tournament.

There is squad rotation at the Rossoneri, but only to a certain extent, with Rafael Leao, Tijjani Reijnders and Youssouf Fofana still in the starting eleven.

Mike Maignan is out after dental treatment, while Theo Hernandez has a bruised foot and is also not even on the bench.

Fonseca alternates the roles of Leao and Abraham

Leao has been noted to be pulling inward a lot more lately, rather than just going left and retreating.

“Rafa is now using other spaces and not just going to the sideline. He is in good form, it is important to have a strong attack tonight and that is the decision I made,” explained Fosenca.

Abraham is not a very productive centre-forward but was involved in all three Champions League goals against Slovan Bratislava last week.

“I have confidence in all my players. Noah Okafor was ill this week and therefore not ready to play. Abraham performed very well in Bratislava, I decided in the last game to only play Morata in the starting XI, but Tammy is making progress,” Fonseca added.

“He has a completely different approach to the role here than in recent years, I expect him to play like he did in Bratislava.

“We have players who can do well tonight.”