Allegri faces moment of truth against Genoa

Crisis-hit AC Milan go into Saturday's match at home to Genoa with five defeats in eight Serie A games behind them and amid widespread speculation that coach Massimiliano Allegri will be fired if they lose again. The names of Dutchman Frank Rijkaard, former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola and assistant coach Mauro Tassotti have been thrown into the rumour mill by the Italian media following Wednesday's Champions League defeat at Malaga. Whether any of them could do better than Allegri with such limited resources is highly debatable, especially with the pressure to get instant results. Allegri, who led Milan to the 2010/11 title in his first season there, has been forced to rebuild his side after the club sold off Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Thiago Silva and Antonio Cassano during the close season in a bid to balance the books. With Brazilian forwards Robinho and Alexandre Pato struggling with injuries, Allegri has turned to Stephan El Shaaraway and, although the teenager is a bright prospect, it seems premature to ask him to lead the attack. A loss of form by right back Ignazio Abate and midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng, left out of Wednesday's team for technical reasons, has...