AC Milan took a big step towards qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League as they beat Dinamo Zagreb 4-0 last night in Croatia.
The Rossoneri moved into second place in the Group E standings with a commanding display as Matteo Gabbia, Rafael Leao, Olivier Giroud and an own-goal guided Stefano Pioli’s men to a comfortable win at the Stadion Maksimir. Below are the main stats from the game, via the official website…
➤ Milan have scored four goals in a Champions League away match for the fourth time in their history; prior to today, the most recent was against Fenerbahçe, in November 2005.
➤ Dinamo Zagreb are the team that AC Milan has faced the most in European competitions, winning all of them (six).
➤ Milan have won more than one group game, in the group stage phases of UEFA Champions League, for the first time since 2013/14 (successes against Celtic in both the first leg and the return leg).
➤ Milan have scored from a set-piece for the first time in the Champions League since December 2021 (Tomori’s goal against Liverpool from a corner kick).
➤ For the first time under Stefano Pioli, Milan fielded a starting eleven with an average age above 27 years old (27 years and 42 days). The last time the Rossoneri had an older starting line-up was against Atletico Madrid in March 2014 (28 years and 331 days).
➤ Matteo Gabbia (23 years, 4 days) is the second youngest defender to score a goal in the Champions League for Milan, after Christian Panucci (20 years, 233 days in December 1993 against Porto and 21 years, 204 days in November 1994 against AEK Athens).
➤ Olivier Giroud (36 years and 25 days) is the oldest player to reach 20 goals in the Champions League.
➤ Theo Hernández has provided both assists for Rafael Leao’s last two goals for Milan in all competitions.
➤ The last time an Italian player scored a goal and provided an assist for AC Milan in the Champions League was on November 26, 2013 (Balotelli’s goal and Montolivo’s winning pass).
➤ Rade Krunić has reached the milestone of 100 appearances for the Rossoneri in all competitions.
