AC Milan will look to take a big step towards qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League when they face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, but they make the trip with an injury crisis overshadowing the build-up.
Milan will face off against Chelsea for the first time in 23 years tomorrow night aiming to maintain or potentially pad their three-point gap to the Premier League side, with Stefano Pioli’s men having taken four points from the opening two group games against Red Bull Salzburg (away) and Dinamo Zagreb (home).
Chelsea have undergone some upheaval this season already and have changed managers, while they sit one one point from their opening two games and therefore searching for a first victory.
Game date: Wednesday, 13 September
Kick-off time: 18:45 (CEST)
Venue: San Siro
Referee: Gil Manzano (VAR: Martínez Munuera)
Team news
Another wave of injuries has hit Milan as the defensive department has been largely wiped out with Mike Maignan, Davide Calabria, Alessandro Florenzi, Simon Kjaer and Theo Hernandez all out.
Alexis Saelemaekers and Junior Messias will also miss the game meaning there is no healthy right winger, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic will of course miss the game. Ante Rebic and Divock Origi have only recently returned, and are not expected to be fit enough to start.
According to what is being reported by Sky (via MilanEye), Pioli is expected to field Ciprian Tatarusanu in goal with a back four of Sergino Dest, Pierre Kalulu, Fikayo Tomori and Fode Ballo-Toure ahead.
Sandro Tonali and Ismael Bennacer are tipped to be in the double pivot, with the attack consisting of Rade Krunic wide on the right, Rafael Leao on the left and Charles De Ketelaere as the playmaker behind Olivier Giroud.
The Rossoneri will be hoping to build on the dramatic 3-1 win over Empoli in Tuscany on Saturday night, during which Ballo-Toure scored a 94th-minute winner less than a minute after Bajrami’s free-kick had made it 1-1.
Probable Milan XI (4-2-3-1): Tatarusanu; Dest, Kalulu, Tomori, Ballo-Toure; Tonali, Bennacer; Krunic, De Ketelaere, Leao; Giroud.
The opponents
It has been a strange season for Chelsea so far as they won three of their opening six league games and then lost against Dinamo Zagreb in the first group stage game which proved to be the final straw for new owner Todd Boehly, who then sacked Thomas Tuchel and brought Graham Potter in from Brighton.
Potter got a point on the board in the Champions League with a 1-1 draw against Red Bull Salzburg at Stamford Bridge in the second round, and then got his first win as Conor Gallagher’s injury-time winner saw the Blues beat Crystal Palace 2-1 on Saturday.
There were some injury doubts heading into the game, but as reported by the London Evening Standard Potter’s side trained at Cobham on Tuesday morning and three players were involved in the session who there were previously question marks over in N’Golo Kante, Marc Cucurella and Edouard Mendy.
Two players that might not make it are Jorginho – formerly of Napoli – and Kai Havertz. MilanNews suspect that Potter could field a three-man defence against Milan which would see Kepa in goal with Fofana, Thiago Silva and Cucurella in defence plus Reece James and Ben Chilwell as wing-backs.
Then there would be Mateo Kovacic and Jorginho in goal with Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling either side of former Milan man Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Probable Chelsea XI (3-4-3): Kepa; Fofana, Thiago Silva, Cucurella; James, Kovacic, Jorginho, Chilwell; Mount, Aubameyang, Sterling.
Head to head
Chelsea and Milan are even when it comes to the head-to-head meetings between the two sides as each have won one game apiece out of the five games played.
The first three games took place in the 1965-66 edition of the InterCities Fairs Cup, where Chelsea went through via a coin toss after a 3-3 draw on aggregate after two leads and a 1-1 after extra-time in a play-off.
The two most recent meetings in the Champions League took place in the 1999-00 campaign and they certainly did not live up to the excitement as there was a goalless draw at Stamford Bridge and it was 1-1 at San Siro.
Match facts…
➤ 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.
Ones to watch
The main man for the home side might just be a player that Milan know all too well in Aubameyang. He has 69 goals in 129 Premier League games and he got off the mark in Saturday’s win for the Blues, so Tomori and Kalulu will have to be at their best to stop him.
It would only be right to pick out another former Milan player and still a fan favourite too in Thiago Silva. He remains playing at a very high level as he approaches his 40s and will square off against Olivier Giroud.
For Milan, there is no doubting that it will be on Rafael Leao to try and lead the attacking department given he has 4 goals and 9 assists in 9 games so far this season (all comps), plus there is the added layer of intrigue with the Chelsea links.
Then, there are two former Chelsea players in the ranks who will hope to prove a point by getting one over on their old club. Giroud won the Champions League with them and will look to build on his five goals this season, while Tomori will look to keep them out at the other end.
Prediction
We would love to have a fully fit squad and a full tank of optimism heading into what will be a great litmus test, but sometimes the injuries are just too much and it can be hard to foresee a positive result. A spirited performance and even an early goal to create pressure could help Milan pull off a fantastic result, though.
Chelsea 1-0 AC Milan
