AC Milan will host Tottenham Hotspur at San Siro stadium tonight in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League last 16 round hoping to gain a first leg advantage.
The Rossoneri are enduring a terrible campaign in the Serie A having lost three games in a row, but they redeemed themselves over the weekend with a 1-0 win over Torino, ending a winless run of seven matches in all competitions.
They are placed 5th in the league, 18 points behind Serie A leader Napoli, but a better finish in the Champions League would be a plus for the side so they will be eyeing just that.
On Tottenham’s side, they want to return to winning ways after a thorough 4-1 thrashing by Leicester City in the Premier League over the weekend.
Tottenham are currently sitting fifth on the Premier League table and the pressure is mounting for manager Antonio Conte so it is only fair he treats this match with all the seriousness it deserves.
AC Milan finished second behind Chelsea in Group E while Tottenham topped their Group D so this match looks like it will be evenly matched, but the Londoners can pride themselves in having Conte in the dugout as he holds a good record against Milan.
The Italian has won eight of the last matches against the Italian champions.
AC Milan will be playing their first UEFA Champions League knockout match since the 2013/14 season when they were knocked out by eventual finalists Atletico Madrid.
Tottenham on the other side last played in the competition’s knockout stage in 2020 where they were eliminated by RB Leipzig. Then, they were under two-time winning manager Jose Mourinho.
Team news
AC Milan first-choice goalkeeper Mike Maignan has been ruled out of this match due to a calf injury so Ciprian Tatarusanu will be in goal tonight.
Midfielder Ismael Bennacer is also unavailable. The good news is that Fikayo Tomori has recovered just in time so he is available for selection. The lion that is Zlatan Ibrahimovic is also available.
Tottenham captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is unavailable tonight due to a knee injury so Fraser Forster will be in goal.
Rodrigo Bentancur, Yves Bissouma and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg are all out injured as well.
