AC Milan take on Newcastle United tonight in the final game of their Champions League group stage campaign hoping to achieve mission impossible and make it through to the last 16.
Getting second spot in the group feels a tall order at the moment. The Rossoneri not only need to beat Newcastle but they must hope that Borussia Dortmund – who have already secured top spot – do them a favour and win against PSG.
The game at St. James’ Park will feature some intriguing individual battles, starting with Rafael Leao against Kieran Trippier down Newcastle’s right side. The English full-back struggled in recent defeats against Everton and Tottenham, giving the ball away cheaply and having difficulties in isolation.
Milan meanwhile welcome back their best forward after an absence of around a month. Leao was the man of the match during the 2-1 win over PSG in the fourth group game and has been missing for crucial recent fixtures, so he will look to get back into gear quickly.
At the other end, the story of Anthony Gordon versus Davide Calabria is similar in many ways. Gordon was a big-money signing for the Magpies from Everton and has scored six league goals coming in off the left wing this season.
The England U21 international is yet to score a goal in the Champions League, but he faces Calabria who is not going through the best moment after he struggled against Dortmund in the 3-1 home defeat and got sent off during the loss to Atalanta at the weekend for two yellows.
Moving into midfield, Bruno Guimaraes is without doubt the metronome for the home side and is one of the best midfielders in the Premier League on his day. With Sandro Tonali suspended for some time, the pressure is on him even more to carry the department.
He faces a battle against Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who was excellent during the victory over PSG with his driving runs playing a more advanced role and disrupting the attempted build-up play from Luis Enrique’s side. A similar task awaits tonight.
There will be a battle of two veterans at one end as Olivier Giroud aims to get the better of Fabian Schar. The Frenchman missed a penalty early on in the last UCL game against Dortmund to has the desire to avenge that, and build off his goal in Bergamo at the weekend too.
The 31-year-old Schar has been at Newcastle for half a decade now and is getting his first taste of European football with the Geordies. He has been a reliable performer under Eddie Howe and certainly will not shy away from the physical battle that awaits.
Finally, a mission for Milan’s makeshift defence: stop Callum Wilson. It is likely that Fikayo Tomori will take on the mission of thwarting his compatriot, because leaving Theo to deal with a centre-forward so proficient in movement might be a tad dangerous.
As alluded to, the pair know each other well from various England camps and the 31-year-old Wilson has seven Premier League goals this season.
Bruno is one of the best midfielders in what universe
Only a clown like you will say that, he plays every game for them and is brilliant. He was one of the best midfielders in PL last season.
Must be in the genes.
and only a moron like you would twerk for Arab FC like this lmao, best player my ass thats why they are 7th
He is also deemed their most expensive player on transfermarkt. You really got to be bored as much as you keep posting nonsense or downright trolling on a daily basis.
If you promise to stay away from this website ill gladly buy you some games on steam or something so you at least doesnt waste your and our time any longer 😛
posts daily lmao says the guy posting nonsense literally 7 days a week about a team he doesnt even like, dont you have a job?
Its pretty cringe, this is why no one likes you and you gotta find friends in random ass blogs like this
“A team i doesn’t even like” are you freaking kidding me I’m generally pretty positive about the club and never demands our coach to be sacked or bashes our players so i’m pretty sure some people on this website are of the view that im too positive.
Besides of that I’ve been an AC Milan fan since the late 80ies where you probably wasn’t even born so….
😀 Well obviously i can’t say whether people likes me or not as its up for others to say but clearly you are beyond delusional because if anyone is hated on this website I’m confident to say that the consensus would be that you would take the first place.
By that kind of logic maybe you should in fact follow your own advice.
“Its pretty cringe, this is why no one likes you and you gotta find friends in random ass blogs like this”
Funny hearing you say this.
Imagine saying this to someone who never bashes the team or players.
Thanks Doki, I think our little insecure friend further up lives with his head up his arse but I did actually find it mildly amusing which can’t be said about his usual trolling attempts 🙂
The biggest battle to be fought is in the heads of the Milan players, they should start playing like a team to start with…
Better to lose than to play europa league and be humiliated by teams like levercusen,betis or brighton
its more humiliating to know that someone who’s a “fan” prays for a loss
pathetic isnt even the word for you
It pains me to say that I would rather we finished last than moved over to Europa League. This way it is more likely that we part ways with Pioli. Deep inside me, I shall concede, I hope that a miracle happens tonight and we qualify for the next round of Champions League.
The Europa league is important, if suboptimal, because doing well would increase Milan’s UEFA coefficient for next season’s Swiss format and, possibly, help Serie A get a fifth champions league spot for next season, which would be a big large safety net. There is also prize money to think about, which would help Milan recruit for next season.
I hear you – just not sure Motta or other comparable coach would switch mid season. Either way, not playing 50 games a month like we have been with CL internationals and freaking friendlies may help us climb up the table.
But are we ready for next round of CL? We are barely hanging on by a thread here…
Focusing on Serie A with only one game a week might be a blessing in disguise to turn the season around.
The key matchup is Isak vs Hernandez at CB. If you are Newcastle, easily the weakest link and biggest mismatch to exploit with everything they’ve got.
We still have a lot of players in the squad, so I do think playing in the EL is healthier for overall group dynamics than not. More so if acquisitions will happen in the winter window and some injured players start regaining fitness.