AC Milan’s path to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League became a tad more complicated after the defeat against Chelsea last night.
Milan remain third in the group with four points from their first four games, with Red Bull Salzburg in second on six points (one win, three draws), Chelsea ahead on seven points and Dinamo Zagreb now level with the Rossoneri on four points but below on head-to-head.
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After the results of the first four rounds, MilanNews have revealed the combinations via which Milan can qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League:
➤ Six points: Winning against with Dinamo Zagreb and Red Bull Salzburg would be enough to guarantee progress.
➤ Four points: A win and a draw against Dinamo Zagreb and Salzburg would be enough if Chelsea beat the Austrians in the next round.
With a victory in Croatia and a draw versus Salzburg, Milan qualify if Salzburg lose to Chelsea, Milan would be third if Salzburg beat Chelsea and the Blues do not lose against Dinamo, while if the Austrians draw with Chelsea the overall goal difference comes into play. With a win against Salzburg and a draw in Croatia, Milan qualify if Chelsea lose both of their games or if Salzburg do not beat Chelsea.
Win the next 2 games and you don’t have to worry about anyone else.
If Milan doesn’t win these 2 very winnable games then they don’t deserve to go thru, plain and simple.
Even without the bad refereeing, there are no guarantees that Milan would have managed a draw or win vs Chelsea. That’s the best team in the group.
Most of their back ups can be upgrades over most of our starters.
Focus on Salzburg and Dinamo. Get out of the group stage for financial benefits and make sure you defend the title in Serie A and get that 2nd star.
We are still few year away from competing against the top clubs in Champions league
It’s like watching myself comment 🤔🤭😂.these are my exact thoughts
I will have to disagree with you there Z. Milan with it’s full squad will sure give Chelsea a hard fight. Considering the fact that the first leg was almost against our second best team should say alot. I am sure if Maignan, Theo, Calabria and maybe Alexis all were in the lineup the results 4rm both legs would have been different. Our worst games right now will always be when Tata, Dest, Krunic, and Ballo all starting for our team at the same time 😭😭 not forgetting the rigidity of our coach in sticking to just his 4 2 3 1 formation.
We can talk about IFS and BUTs all day but the reality is that Milan isn’t yet on Chelsea level.
Even with Milan at full strength, most Chelsea back ups will be our starters.
Matter fact. 2 of their 3rd and 4th stringers ARE our starters. Giroud and Tomori. Giroud was behind Havertz, Tammy and Werner.
While Tomori was waaaaay down the pecking order in defense at Chelsea..
Focus on Salzburg and Dinamo, get out of the group and hopefully we get a favorable match up in the knock out stage.
We aren’t yet a match for the current big dogs of European football . At least 4 high quality starters are needed for Milan to be competitive vs the best.
Don’t let serie A title fool you. Italian league, quality wise is at the lowest point in a long time
Z I agree with you. Win out in two winnable games and qualify. I’m not worried about the Chelsea games referee notwithstanding. If we can’t beat Zagreb and Salzburg we don’t deserve to qualify. Clearly the squad is still being built up to CL quality. It’s our second season back after not participating for 7 seasons. Can’t understand why people are losing their minds when this group still very open.
“the rigidity of our coach in sticking to just his 4 2 3 1 formation”
Did you even watch the matches? Pioli used 4-3-3 formation against Juve and Chelsea this morning. The formation even changed to 3–4-3 when attacking with Kalulu-Gabbia-Tomori turn as 3 CB and Theo moves forward as midfielder.
Next time, don’t watch Milan match from livescore.
I agree Z, we’re not there yet – we need to focus on progressing and then fighting for local honours. We have some class players but we’re still a work in progress.
I think we can all agree that this Z person is an absolute clown. Clueless about football.