AC Milan will face Paris Saint-Germain in Europe for the first time in over 20 years as the two sides do battle at the Parc des Princes tonight.
For Milan the aim is to try and put the 1-0 defeat to Juventus on Sunday behind them by getting a first win in the Champions League in 2023-24, but it is far easier said than done against a PSG side which are full of quality.
You can read our pre-match preview here, while below are the best stats ahead of the match:
➤ No side have Paris Saint-Germain faced more in the Champions League without ever winning than Milan (4), losing twice in 1994-95 (semi-final), and drawing twice in 2000-01 (second group stage).
➤ Paris have won their last three meetings with Italian sides in all competitions, beating Juventus home and away in the Champions League group stages last season. They’d only won two of their first 20 against such sides before this (D9 L9).
➤ Milan have lost just three of their 16 Champions League games against French sides (W8, D5) – the 1993 final against Marseille, a 2002-03 group stage game at Lens, and at home to Lille in the 2006-07 group stages. This is their first such match since winning both games against Auxerre in 2010-11.
➤ Paris Saint-Germain lost 4-1 at Newcastle last time out – they’ve not lost consecutive games in the same Champions League group stage since their first two matches in the 2004-05 campaign, which was the last time they failed to progress to the knockout rounds of the competition.
➤ Both of Milan’s Champions League games this season have finished 0-0. In the competition’s history, only Club Brugge between November 2018 and September 2019 have had three consecutive goalless draws, while the last time a team had three 0-0s in the same group stage was back in 2005-06 (Lille, Liverpool, Man Utd and Villarreal).
➤ Since their return to the competition regularly in 2012, Paris have lost just one of their 34 Champions League group stage home games (W27 D6), going down 2-1 against Manchester United in October 2020.
➤ Following a 3-0 aggregate defeat to Inter in last season’s semi-final, and two goalless draws so far this season, Milan have failed to score in their last four Champions League matches. It’s their longest run without a goal in all European club competition history.
➤ So far this season only Manchester City (55) and Real Madrid (50) have had more shots in the Champions League than Milan (39), though the Rossoneri remain without a goal so far.
➤ Only Manchester City (71.8%) have a higher average possession so far in this season’s Champions League than Paris Saint-Germain (70.5%). Their 73.1% possession against Newcastle as their third highest total on record (since 2003-04) in a single match in the competition.
➤ Since the start of 2017-18, PSG’s Kylian Mbappé has been involved in more Champions League group stage goals than any other player (46 – 26 goals, 20 assists), with the Frenchman averaging a goal or assist every 65 minutes in this round of the competition since then.
