Champions League preview: AC Milan host Real Madrid at the San Siro
Two teams with plenty of shared history will face each other when AC Milan host Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday, 3 November.
Real and Milan are the two most successful in the Champions League to date. The Spaniards have nine titles from twelve final appearances, while Milan have won seven of their eleven finals.
Real triumphed over Milan at home in the last round, handing Massimiliano Allegri's team a 2–0 defeat that was never in doubt. Plenty of chances went begging for Mourinho's team, but their solid defensive
display made up for any ineffectiveness in attack.
The Spaniards will be looking to secure the place in the knock-out stage in the game. Even a draw would suffice to do so if AJ Auxerre beat Ajax Amsterdam in Group G's other encounter.
Milan, on the other hand, are tied with Ajax on four points and must win to keep the pressure on the Dutch team.
Two wins from their remaining three games could see them through to the next round, but Allegri will not want his back against the wall away to Auxerre and at home to Ajax for the two remaining fixtures.
Familiar faces
The personnel involved exhibit the wealth of shared history between the two teams. The game will see Jose Mourinho return to the San Siro, where he coached Inter Milan between 2008 and 2010.
The Portuguese will also face Zlatan Ibrahimovic, one of his key players at Inter who joined Milan from Barcelona before the start of the current season.
Milan's Clarence Seedorf, who was won the Champions League for both teams, will likely partake, while Robinho, who joined Milan along with Ibrahimovic this summer, played for Real between 2005 and 2008.
The home team has the more grave injury situation, with Gianluca Zambrotta, Thiago Silva and Massimo Oddo out in defence.
Striker Ronaldinho, who has a spectacular record against Real after his spell at Barcelona, will hope to have recovered from his thigh injury in time for the kick-off.
Kaka, Ezequiel Garay and Fernando Gago remain absent for Real, while Lassana Diarra could also be unavailable, but Mourinho has Mesut Ozil, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuain, Angel di Maria and Karim
Benzema to choose from in attack with Xabi Alonso, Sami Khedira, Sergio Ramos, Pepe and Raul Albiol providing defensive cover.
Real's poor record in Italy
Real have yet to win at the San Siro, suffering 10 defeats and three draws in their 13 games at the stadium. The last time the team won on a trip to Italy was in the 2004–05 Champions League, when they
overcame AS Roma 3–0.
Last season was the first in which Real did not lose away to Milan, when Karim Benzema's first-half strike helped the team to a 1–1 draw. The Madrid leg of last year's fixture ended in a 3–2 victory for
Milan after Alexandre Pato bagged two goals.
Mourinho's record against Milan will encourage Real to perform at the San Siro, though, as the manager won three of his four games against the team while at Inter.
The Spaniards are also one strike away from scoring their 700th goal in the competition. We should expect that milestone to have been reached by Thursday.
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