AC Milan will face Chelsea for only the third time in the Champions League tonight as the sides meet at Stamford Bridge.
Milan are currently top of Group E having amassed four points from their first two games while Chelsea have just one, but both sides won in the 94th-minute on Saturday to give them a boost. You can read our match preview here, while below are the best stats ahead of the game…
➤ This is the first time Chelsea and AC Milan have met in the UEFA Champions League since the 1999-00 first group stage, with both games ending in draws, including a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge.
➤ Milan’s only win over Chelsea was in February 1966 in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, winning 2-1 at the San Siro. That third round tie then went to a deciding game – a 1-1 draw – and Chelsea progressed via a coin toss.
➤ Chelsea have only lost two of their 13 home European matches against Italian opponents (W8 D3), with both defeats coming in the UEFA Champions League: 1-2 vs Lazio in March 2000 and 0-1 vs Internazionale in March 2010.
➤ Milan have won just one of their 20 away European matches in England (D7 L12), a 1-0 win at Old Trafford against Man Utd in February 2005. Their only other win in England (excluding Penalty Shootout) was in the 1963 European Cup final against Benfica, winning 2-1 at Wembley.
➤ Chelsea coach Graham Potter will be just the third Englishman to face Milan in the UEFA Champions League, after Bobby Robson with FC Porto in 1993-94 and Harry Redknapp with Tottenham in 2010-11 – both of those previous managers went unbeaten (D1 for Robson, W1 D1 for Redknapp).
➤ Milan have made an unbeaten start in this season’s UEFA Champions League, beating Dinamo Zagreb and drawing with RB Salzburg. This is already as many points (4) as they won in their six group stage games last season (W1 D1 L4).
➤ Milan forward Olivier Giroud could become the 10th player to score for and against Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League, and first since Loïc Rémy for Lille in December 2019.
➤ Raheem Sterling scored his first UEFA Champions League goal for Chelsea in their last game (vs. RB Salzburg), while he could become just the second player to score in his first two home games for the club in the competition, along with Oscar in 2012-13.
➤ Chelsea’s Reece James has been involved in 13 sequences of play that ended in a shot in the UEFA Champions League this season – through the first two matchdays, João Cancelo (16) is the only full back who has been involved in more.
