AS Roma vs AC Milan - Bosses under pressure as Serie A giants Roma and AC Milan clash

Posted Friday, January 08, 2016 by PA

Neither Rudi Garcia nor Sinisa Mihajlovic can afford to lose when under-performing giants Roma and AC Milan meet at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.

The already heavy pressure on both coaches increased after fifth-placed Roma were held to a draw at mid-table Chievo while Milan - 11 points behind Serie A leaders and city rivals Inter - were beaten at home by Bologna.

A draw in the Eternal City might buy the bosses some more time to plan their respective assaults on the top three.

The price of defeat could be costly, however.

Giallorossi coach Garcia told a pre-match press conference: "Is my job at risk? I just work hard and keep my mouth shut. I think only about working hard and winning. The most important match is always the next one.

"Tomorrow we have to return to winning ways and start climbing the table. We have to put a string of wins together."

Roma's haul of 35 goals in 18 games is second only to that of high-flying Fiorentina. But it is the goals-against column, which reads 21, that demonstrates why they have failed to win more than nine games this season.

"Even though we've conceded so many goals it's possible that we can remain in the upper reaches of the table," Garcia added. "We've got the second-best attack in Serie A.

"We obviously need to find better balance in the team, but if you don't attack then you don't score and that's not the Roma way."

Milan, meanwhile, looked to be on the mend heading into the new year. A four-game unbeaten run boosted the Rossoneri into sixth place but the shock loss to Bologna unravelled much of that hard work.

Reports in Italy suggest World Cup-winning manager Marcello Lippi is being lined up to replace Mihajlovic at San Siro, but the Serbian remains convinced he can reverse Milan's fortunes.

"The only way to get ourselves out of this situation is to get results and that's what we want to do tomorrow," he said. "I still believe that with all our players available we can compete for one of the top three places.

"In terms of what we've already achieved on the pitch, if we had four or five more points we'd be in a much better position."

Milan have not beaten Roma at the Olimpico since Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice in a 3-2 victory in October 2011.