UEFA Champions League Preview: AC Milan – Real Madrid
Rossoneri misfiring on all fronts
The month of November ended poorly for Milan as Rossoneri were defeated by Juventus and Real Madrid in the last two weeks. Milan dropped to fourth spot in the league following their home defeat to Bianconeri.
On continental front, Allegri’s inexperience has shown its ugly head. Davioli face an early exit should the fail to achieve a result against an inspired Real Madrid side. Milan’s slow midfield and defence has been brutally exposed by younger players in recent
times but Allegri is adamant his players can still win.
“This is a strong group of players, playing at a good level, so we have everything needed to win. We have to keep Real Madrid under pressure – we can't repeat the technical mistakes we made in the first leg.”
Mourinho returns to San Siro
The Portuguese genius returns to his former hunting ground with Los Galacticos. Mourinho’s men have started the 2010/11 season in breathtaking fashion; scoring 30 goals and conceding a miserly five.
Los Galacticos put the Milan giants to sword with a dominant display of attacking football a fortnight ago and Mourinho will be expecting more of the same from his troops.
However, Milan has the quality to punish any complacency and Mourinho will have to keep his troops on their toes throughout the 90 minutes.
Team News
AC Milan
Davioli will be boosted by the return of Thiago Silva and skipper Massimo Ambrosini while Oddo is out for six weeks with a thigh strain
Expected Formation
Massimiliano Allegri will line up his troops in a 4-3-1-2 formation with Pato and Ibra leading the line. Robinho will play the trequartista role while Seedorf, Ambrosni and Pirlo will form a midfield trident. Thago Silva will return to the centre of defence
and will partner Alessandro Nesta.
Probable Line up
Christian Abbiati, Gianluca Zambrotta, Alessandro Nesta, Thiago Silva, Luca Antonini, Clarence Seedorf , Andrea Pirlo, Massimo Ambrosini, Robinho, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Alexandre Pato
Real Madrid
Ricardo Kaka, Ezequiel Garay and Fernando Gago are longer-term injury casualities while Lassana Diara, despite returning to fitness, has been left out of the squad.
Expected Formation
Galacticos will play the fixture in an attacking 4-4-1-1 formation. Higuain will play the lone striker role while Ronaldo will play in a free role just behind him. Alonso’s silk will be complemented by the steel of Khedira in the midfield while Di Maria
and Ozil will line up on the flanks.
Probable Line up
Iker Casillas, Sergio Romos, Ricardo Carvalho, Pepe, Marcelo, Sami Khedira, Xabi Alonso, Angel Di Maria, Mesut Ozil, Cristano Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuain
Key Players
Robinho
The Brazilian is slowly finding his feet with the Rossoneri and his performances of late have been rather impressive. With Pato looking like a shadow of his former self, Robinho will hold the key to unlocking Madrid rearguard.
Cristiano Ronaldo
CR7 has been in inspired form following a slow start to the campaign. The prodigious forward has scored 13 goals in last 9 games and looks odds-on favourite to score yet again tonight.
Prediction
Real Madrid are enjoying a great run of form and Los Galacticos show little signs of stopping. Milan’s form however, has been on the contrary. Even though Rossoneri play at home, their recent form indicates there is little hope for optimism. Milan should
be happy with a draw as a victory seems unlikely but one gets the feel Jose Mourinho will put further misery on the fallen Italian giants. Real Madrid to edge out the encounter by a 1 – 2 score line!