AC Milanvs.Feyenoord

The managerless Dutch titans stunned Sergio Conceicao's side to triumph 1-0 at De Kuip in their opening encounter, and a last-16 date with either Inter Milan or Arsenal will be their reward should they maintain or increase their narrow advantage.

Match preview

So often lauded as one of the finest goalkeepers on the continent - and with good reason - AC Milan's Mike Maignan was instead culpable for the critical moment in the first leg, when Igor Paixao's third-minute strike somehow evaded his grasp and ended up in the back of the net.

That solitary long-range effort from the electrifying Paixao - now rumoured to be on the radar of a few Premier League giants - proved to be the telling contribution in a rainy Rotterdam, and history does not favour AC Milan as they seek to put things right in the rematch.

Indeed, the Rossoneri have only advanced from one of their last six Champions League knockout ties when losing the first leg - a terrific comeback job on Manchester United in the 2006-07 semi-finals - but home is still where the heart is for Conceicao's outfit.

Former Feyenoord striker Santiago Gimenez - who swapped Rotterdam for the red and black during the January transfer window - was stunted against his former team last week, but the Mexico international bagged the only goal of the contest in Saturday's 1-0 Serie A win over Hellas Verona.

When billed as the 'home' team at their shared San Siro headquarters, Milan have now strung together a 12-game run without defeat in all competitions since October's 2-0 loss to Napoli, but they are still trailing the European places in the Serie A table and may have to go all the way in the 2024-25 UCL to punch their ticket to continental football again next term.

Also far from where they aspire to be domestically as PSV Eindhoven and Ajax engage in a two-way fight for the Eredivisie title, Feyenoord made the extremely bold decision to part ways with former head coach Brian Priske just two days before hosting the seven-time European champions.

Priske was made to clear out his office not long after masterminding a 3-0 triumph over Sparta Rotterdam, as the board cited a "lack of progress" under the Dane, but his temporary successor Pascal Bosschaart could hardly have endeared himself to the fans in a more spectacular way last week.

The former Feyenoord player now seeks to steer the Rotterdam giants to the last 16 of Europe's premier tournament for the first time since the 1974-75 season - five years before he was even born - but familiar weaknesses arose again at the weekend.

After the high of slaying Milan, Feyenoord came crashing back down to earth in a goalless top-flight draw with NAC Breda, their fifth successive away game without a win in all competitions and their second in a row without a goal.

Tuesday's visitors have at least committed to entertainment on their travels in the Champions League - their four road games in this season's competition have produced a staggering 22 goals, an average of over five per match - but not since September 2002 have they kept a clean sheet in the tournament proper away from home.

AC Milan Champions League form:

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W

W

W

L

L

AC Milan form (all competitions):

L

D

W

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L

W

Feyenoord Champions League form:

L

D

W

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L

W

Feyenoord form (all competitions):

L

L

L

W

W

D

Team News

One of the few positives that Conceicao and Milan could take from their first-leg loss was the fact that no players suffered fresh injury or suspension woes, and the hosts also have USA international Yunus Musah back from a ban served in Rotterdam.

However, Alessandro Florenzi (ACL), Emerson Royal (calf) and Pierre Kalulu (muscle) remain sidelined, and the tight turnaround from the weekend also makes it difficult to envisage Ruben Loftus-Cheek returning from his own muscular problem.

Both dropped to the bench for the weekend's triumph over Verona, wide duo Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao should be reintroduced into the XI this week; the latter set up Gimenez's goal as a substitute and has made more successful dribbles than any other player in this season's Champions League (33).

In stark contrast, Feyenoord's hard-fought success in the first leg came at a significant cost, as Ayase Ueda and captain Quinten Timber had to be substituted with respective hamstring and knee injuries and missed the weekend's draw with NEC as a result.

Whether either man can shake off their concerns in time for Tuesday remains to be seen, but they represent two of several concerns for an injury-hit Feyenoord, who are also deprived of Calvin Stengs (hamstring), Chris-Kevin Nadje (foot), Hwang In-beom (unspecified), Bart Nieuwkoop (unspecified), Ramiz Zerrouki (leg), Jordan Lotomba (leg), Justin Bijlow (knee) and Gernot Trauner (unspecified).

Furthermore, highly-rated left-back Quilindschy Hartman - who made his return from a serious knee injury earlier this month - is ineligible, so Bosschaart could be missing a full XI of players for a daunting return fixture.

AC Milan possible starting lineup:

Maignan; Walker, Gabbia, Pavlovic, Hernandez; Fofana, Reijnders; Pulisic, Felix, Leao; Gimenez

Feyenoord possible starting lineup:

Wellenreuther; Read, Beelen, Hancko, Smal; Moder, Milambo; Hadj Moussa, Ivanusec, Paixao; Carranza

We say: AC Milan 2-0 Feyenoord (AC Milan win 2-1 on aggregate)

Only 1.06 Expected Goals (xG) were registered between the two clubs in last week's first leg - the second-lowest total of any UCL game this season - although Feyenoord's away matches have been anything but a dull watch so far.

Written by

Ben Knapton

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