AC Milan will welcome RB Salzburg to San Siro this Wednesday, looking to secure a result that will take them to the next stage of the UEFA Champions League.
Venue: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro) (Milan)
Key Statistics
AC Milan are unbeaten in their last eight European games against Austrian opponents though (W6, D2).
But they have lost two of their last four home games in all competitions (W2).
They have kept just two clean sheets in their last ten games in all competitions.
RB Salzburg are unbeaten in their last nine away games in all competitions (W7, D2).
But the visitors are winless in their last six away games in the Champions League (D3, L3).
The Austrian side have scored inside the first 15 minutes in their last three games.
Head to head
AC Milan are unbeaten in three head-to-head meetings with Salzburg (W2, D1).
Latest performances in all competitions
AC Milan: L-W-W-W-L
RB Salzburg: W-L-D-W-W
AC Milan
AC Milan’s quest to secure UEFA Champions League football next year will take a new shape this Wednesday as they welcome their competitor for the second position in Group E to San Siro.
The Serie A side are sitting in second position in the group, one point ahead of their visitors after five games. And so this game is a straight shootout to secure second place in Group E and a place in the knockout round of the competition.
However, Milan come into this tie in bad form, having suffered a costly 2-1 defeat away to Torino last weekend. The result forced manager Stefano Pioli to insist that his men were not distracted by this up-and-coming decisive clash.
The manager who secured a contract extension on Monday will now hope that his prediction is true as he looks to secure qualification from this group at the second time of asking after finishing bottom of their UCL group last season.
They will fancy their chances of getting a good result here, given that they are unbeaten in their last eight European games against Austrian opponents (W6, D2). That run includes a 1-1 in the reverse fixture, with a repeat of that result here enough to secure their place in the next round.
Possible AC Milan starting line-up
Ciprian Tatarusanu; Pierre Kalulu, Matteo Gabbia, Fikayo Tomori, Theo Hernandez; Sandro Tonali, Ismael Bennacer; Ante Rebić, Brahim Diaz, Rafael Leao, Olivier Giroud.
Injured: Alessandro Florenzi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Davide Calabria, Mike Maignan, Alexis Saelemaekers
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
RB Salzburg
RB Salzburg can secure a place in the round of 16 for the second time in a year if they can win this game.
The Austrian side were beaten for the first time in 35 meetings at home last time out in the UCL by Chelsea, who inflicted a 2-1 defeat on them, complicating their chances of progressing.
However, they bounced back from that loss over the weekend, defeating Hatebeg by a narrow 1-0 scoreline to go two points clear at the top of the Austrian Bundesliga.
They will now hope to make it two wins in a row, yet to do so they need to end a six-game winless run on the road in this competition (D3, L3), with their last away success coming in the qualification phase against Brøndby back in August of last year.
Despite their poor away record in the UCL, Matthias Jaissle’s men have been in good form away from home this season. They come into this tie unbeaten in their last nine competitive away outings (W7, D2). And so, they will fancy their chances of breaking their winless record against AC Milan at the San Siro on Wednesday.
Possible RB Salzburg starting line-up
Philipp Koehn; Amar Dedic, Kamil Piatkowski, Oumar Solet, Maximilian Wober; Lucas Gourna-Douath, Nicolas Seiwald, Maurits Kjaergaard; Noah Okafor, Benjamin Sesko, Chukwuebuka Adamu.
Injured: Nicolas Capaldo, Fernando, Samson Tijani, Bryan Okoh
Doubtful: Justin Omoregie, Sekou Koita, Junior Adamu, Oumar Solet,
Suspended: None
Prediction
AC Milan 2-1 Salzburg
