Luiz Adriano eager to link with Balotelli in Milan trident

Milan striker Luiz Adriano has talked up the prospect of featuring in a front three at San Siro this season alongside Mario Balotelli and Carlos Bacca.

The former Shakhtar Donetsk striker has partnered Bacca on Milan’s two Serie A outings this season with reasonable success and is expected to do so again for Sunday’s derby with Inter.

That is despite the high-profile loan signing of Balotelli – who is expected to start on the bench following his season-long return from Liverpool.

Rather than fearing competition from Balotelli, Luiz Adriano stated the Italy international could prove the ideal foil for him and Bacca.

“He’s very important to us,” the Brazilian told La Gazzetta dello Sport of Balotelli.

“Mario is a great player who has come here to give us an important helping hand. We need everybody in the squad and he’s going to help us a lot.

“It would be a fantastic trident because Balotelli’s got quality which can help us a great deal.

“There wouldn’t be any problem all three of us playing together. I get on well with Carlos. Our understanding improves with each training session, and we talk a lot to each other.”

Bacca and Luiz Adriano were on target against Empoli as Milan secured their first league win of the season prior to the international break.

However, Sinisa Mihajlovic’s side face their first key test of the campaign against Inter this weekend.

“I’m really curious and emotional about Sunday,” Luiz Adriano added.

“San Siro’s going to be spectacular. I’ve played in derbies which have brought an entire country to a standstill, like those games [for Shakhtar Donetsk] against Dynamo Kiev.

“And at Porto Alegre, I played for Internacional against Gremio and even there, everything stopped for that game.”