AC Milan are back in Europa League action this evening as they take on Slavia Praha at the Fortuna Arena, hoping to make their 4-2 first leg count in order to reach the quarter-finals.
Milan come into the game off the back of a 1-0 home win against Empoli which was far from a vintage performance but was one that Pioli admitted the team had to put in, perhaps because they had an eye on the second leg given that the first leg was far from a breeze.
All of the latest team news and some insight on Slavia is available in our pre-match preview, while below are the key stats ahead of the game…
➤ Slavia Prague have already hosted an Italian opponent in the UEFA Europa League this season, beating Roma 2-0 in the group stage; against teams from no other nation have they won more home games in European competition than they have against Italian sides (P8 W4 D2 L2 – level with Germany and Switzerland).
➤ Milan have won just two of their six away games in European competition in Czechia (D3 L1 – including Czechoslovakia), though both such victories did come in Prague, beating Sparta Prague in both the 1972-73 Cup Winners’ Cup and 2020-21 UEFA Europa League.
➤ Slavia Prague are winless in their last four home games in the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League (D2 L2) and have only managed to net one goal across those four matches.
➤ When holding a lead of 2+ goals from the first game in a two-legged knockout stage tie in the UEFA Cup/Europa League, Milan have only been eliminated on one of the previous 15 occasions – versus Bordeaux in the 1995-96 quarter-final (2-0 in the first leg, 0-3 in the second leg).
➤ Milan striker Olivier Giroud has scored 15 goals in 22 appearances in the UEFA Europa League, including one against Slavia Prague last time out. Should he find the net in this game, the 37-year-old would be the oldest player to score in both legs of a two-legged knockout stage tie in the UEFA Europa League.
