AC Milan will be eager to finally get in the wins column when they welcome PSG to San Siro in a UEFA Champions League Group F clash on Tuesday.
The UEFA Champions League is back this week with Matchday 4 of the group stage of the 2023/24 season. Group F will host the marquee fixture of the latest round of fixtures, with AC Milan welcoming PSG to San Siro on Tuesday night.
AC Milan began the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League with back-to-back goalless stalemates. In fact, the Serie A giants are yet to find the back of the net in a European fixture this term after falling to a 3-0 defeat to AC Milan on Matchday 3. Meanwhile, their struggles have trickled over to the Serie A, with Stefano Pioli’s men failing to win their last three league games, the latest being a shock 1-0 loss to Udinese at home this past weekend.
On the other hand, PSG started the 2023/24 campaign with a dreadful run of results. That included a shock 4-1 defeat to Newcastle United in the UEFA Champions League. But they have picked up form since that loss, winning all five games and scoring exactly three goals in each outing. The latest was a comfortable 3-0 victory against Montpellier this past weekend.
The reverse fixture, as iterated earlier, saw PSG cruise to a 3-0 win over AC Milan, with Kylian Mbappe, Randal Kolo Muani, and Lee Kang-in finding the back of the net. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
AC Milan
Attentions turn to Tuesday 🔜#ACMPSG | #UCL | #SempreMilan
Brought to you by @play_eFootball pic.twitter.com/w3Ypz2EgxX— AC Milan (@acmilan) November 5, 2023
Stefano Pioli is expected a positive update on the team news front ahead of his side’s return to the UEFA Champions League. Against PSG on Tuesday, the AC Milan manager will be bereft of the services of six first-team players.
Theo Hernandez should be available after missing the Serie A clash with Udinese due to an issue with his ankle. Meanwhile, Pierre Kalulu has undergone surgery and will be unavailable for the next four months.
Kalulu accompanies Marco Sportiello (calf), Simon Kjaer (muscle injury), Marco Pellegrino (heel), Mattia Caldara (ankle), and Ismael Bennacer (knee) on the sidelines. Sportiello’s absence should not be an issue, with Mike Maignan being the first-choice goalkeeper. AC Milan will line up in a 4-3-3 formation in front of him.
Kalulu’s absence means Fikayo Tomori will have Malick Thiaw for company in the central defensive unit. Davide Calabria and Theo Hernandez should flank the two centre-backs, with the duo also having the freedom to express themselves in the final third.
As for the midfield unit, Tijjani Reijnders must step up in Bennacer’s absence. The Dutchman has blown hot and cold in the last few games but needs to do better at the base of the midfield. Yunus Musah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek should line up alongside him in the middle of the park, with the duo providing the forward thrust to link up with the attackers.
Speaking of the offensive unit, Olivier Giroud will spearhead the AC Milan attack against PSG, with Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic being the two wide attackers. Leao and Pulisic will affect the proceedings with their directness, which should be AC Milan’s best route past the vulnerable PSG defence.
Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Maignan; Calabria, Thiaw, Tomori, Theo Hernandez; Musah, Reijnders, Loftus-Cheek; Pulisic, Giroud, Leao
PSG
Unlike his counterpart in the AC Milan dugout, Luis Enrique has a new injury concern hampering his preparations ahead of the trip to San Siro. The PSG manager should be without five first-team players on Tuesday.
Danilo Pereira is the latest absentee, with the versatile Portuguese picking up a hamstring injury last week. Danilo has joined Keylor Navas (back), Sergio Rico (head), Nuno Mendes (thigh), and Marco Asensio (foot) on the sidelines.
Gianluigi Donnarumma is an automatic pick between the sticks, with PSG lining up in a 4-2-2-2 formation in front of him. The system will enable the full-backs to express themselves in the final third and provide width from the flanks.
The Parisian squad to face AC Milan in the @ChampionsLeague! 🔴🔵#ACMPSG | #UCL pic.twitter.com/i1rnWP70w0
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) November 6, 2023
Achraf Hakimi and Lucas Hernandez will thus be workhorses, with the latter looking to outperform his brother on Tuesday. Marquinhos and former Inter Milan defender Milan Skriniar should form the centre-back pairing.
As for the midfield unit, Manuel Ugarte and Warren Zaire-Emery will look to keep things tight in the middle of the park. But the latter, who has taken the season by storm and is one of the best young prodigies in the world this term, will provide the creative impetus in the middle of the park.
Ousmane Dembele and Lee Kang-in will reprise central roles but will essay different performances. While Lee will not foray outwards onto the flanks, Dembele will be all over the place and look to drag the AC Milan defenders out of position. That will create the space for the two strikers to exploit, with Randal Kolo Muani and Kylian Mbappe leading the charge for PSG.
Probable Lineup (4-4-2): Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Skriniar, Lucas Hernandez; Ugarte, Zaire-Emery; Dembele, Lee; Kolo Muani, Mbappe
Key Stats
- AC Milan’s 3-0 loss in the reverse fixture at Parc des Princes was their first-ever defeat to PSG, having won two and drawn two of their first four meetings.
- AC Milan have failed to score in their last five UEFA Champions League matches, their longest run without a goal in their European club competition history.
- Having won just two of their first 20 meetings with Italian opponents in all competitions (D9 L9), PSG have emerged victorious in their last four against Serie A opponents.
- PSG have lost their last two away games in the UEFA Champions League (2-0 v Bayern Munich and 4-1 v Newcastle United). The last time they lost three in a row away from home in the competition was between December 2017 and September 2018.
- PSG have found the back of the net in their last 47 group-stage outings in the UEFA Champions League, the longest run in the competition’s history. They last blanked against Real Madrid in 2015, when Laurent Blanc was in charge.
Player to Watch
Ousmane Dembele
Ousmane Dembele created quite the furore when he decided to leave Barcelona despite being one of Xavi Hernandez’s favourites at FC Barcelona. In addition, pundits expected the Frenchman to become the long-term talismanic figure for PSG, who shelled out €50 million to secure his services. But things have not gone to plan for him.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup winner has been dreadful thus far this season, failing to hit the ground running at Parc des Princes. But his stock remains high, with Premier League bigwigs keen on pouncing on the situation. However, Dembele will be eager to prove his naysayers wrong. So, what better way to start making his mark than by condemning AC Milan to a crushing defeat this week?
Prediction
AC Milan 1-2 PSG
PSG might have cruised to a straightforward victory over AC Milan in the reverse fixture. But another such result is highly unlikely, even though the hosts have been sub-par in the last few weeks. A hurting home side should produce a much better performance and exploit the vulnerabilities of the PSG backline.
But their own shortcomings at the back will come back to haunt Stefano Pioli’s men on Tuesday. They do not have the form nor the quality to keep a rampaging Kylian Mbappe at bay. So, the Ligue 1 champions should end their mini-losing run by clinching a narrow 2-1 defeat at San Siro this week.
