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.
