AC Milan will welcome AS Roma to San Siro for the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie tonight, and it will be a battle of two sides in excellent form.
It will be two Italian rivals meeting in Europe and there is an American flavour two given the ownerships of the two clubs. Milan have won seven in a row coming into the game, while both teams have won eight of their last 11 in the league.
The outcome of the game will be largely influenced by some key battles that take place across the pitch, starting with the one between Rafael Leao and Mehmet Zeki Celik down Milan’s left side.
Before the international break, Leao had 11 goal contributions across all competitions in 2024 and this has continued after his return, with two standout performances, headlined by two goals and an assist. He knows Celik well, with the pair having played together at Lille.
At the other end, arguably the main issue for Milan is stopping Romelu Lukaku, who is a familiar nemesis andhas been involved in 11 goals in his last eight away UEFA Europa League appearances (9 goals, 2 assists).
Lukaku scored in all of his first five appearances in all competitions against Milan but has since failed to score in his last five. It feels like Malick Thiaw might be the man to take him, but Matteo Gabbia will have to do his bet too.
Back to Milan’s attack, Ruben Loftus-Cheek will return to the attacking midfielder role having served a one-game ban during Saturday’s league win over Lecce, and Leandro Paredes will be his opponent as the deeper-lying player of Roma’s midfield three.
Loftus-Cheek has been involved in 11 goals in his 15 Europa League appearances (8 goals, 3 assists), netting four in four for the Italian side this season. He must look to add to that, but also disrupt Paredes who is crucial in the build-up phase, as well as tracking his darts forward.
One of the most interesting duels will be in midfield between Ismael Bennacer and Lorenzo Pellegrini. The Giallorossi captain in particular is experiencing a great period of form, because since De Rossi’s arrival Roma have been on the ball a lot more and he has benefitted from this.
It will be Bennacer’s task above all to be able to counter him and try to defuse his attempts to either shoot from range or supply the front three, while the Algerian also has an important role in build-up too.
Finally, we come to the battle on the Rossoneri’s left side between Theo Hernandez and Paulo Dybala. The Argentine has a rather impressive 22 goal contributions in 30 appearances for Roma (14 goals, eight assists), but he has struggled to stay fit regularly.
When he is on form he is without doubt one of the best creators in Italy, something which will force Theo to be a bit more attentive in the defensive phase, while the full-back must pick his moments to help Leao and cause havoc for Celik given Dybala doesn’t track back much.
