Milan began their Champions League looking like they were destined to top Group E, however consecutive losses to Chelsea have seen them on the verge of being knocked out, in a group which is set to go right down to the wire.
Milan sit third in their group, with only three points separating top and bottom. Every team in the group still has a chance of progression and that is why tonight is pivotal for Milan. A unexpected loss tonight against Zagreb would leave Milan rock bottom and three points from progression with only one game left.
Milan are in good form and have won their last four league games despite the losses to Chelsea, and when Milan and Zagreb met at the San Siro in September, Milan won comfortably 3-1. Zagreb come into the tie, with only one win in their past four games, this will give Milan some positive encouragement that they could pile on the misery for Zagreb.
Zagreb however will cite their impressive home form in the competition as a reason as to why they might experience success against the Italian giants. Milan meanwhile will not look fondly upon their away form in the Champions League so far, and will need to improve if they hope to capitalise on Salzburg and Chelsea playing each other in which one or both could drop points. This could open the door for the winner of this Milan and Zagreb tie to push up the group and finish the day in second if results go their way.
Team News
Zagreb will be hoping for the return of centre-back Bosko Sutalo, who is the only player the Croatian side could be missing through injury. Elsewhere a recall for Luka Ivanusec will likely return to the team after he was rested at the weekend.
Meanwhile Milan have had no respite from the injury woes plaguing them this season, the injured list will be added to with the suspension of Fikayo Tomori who was shown red in the last game week against Chelsea. Alexis Saelamaekers, Mike Maignan, Alessandro Florenzi, Davide Calabria and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are the players who are still out injured. Simon Kjaer however should return which will be a big boost for Stefano Piolo’s side, especially with the absence of Tomori.
Predicted Line-Ups
Zagreb predicted lineup
Milan predicted Lineup
Both teams need a win in order to put themselves in a position to progress ahead of the final group stage games. Milan should have the quality to get past Zagreb, however they have been poor away from home in Europe so far something they will have to change. Luckily for us, we don’t have to wait long now to find out the result of this huge game.
