AC Milan will close out the first phase of their Champions League campaign with a trip to face Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday night, hoping for a top eight finish.
Last week’s victory at San Siro against Girona catapulted Milan from mid-table to sixth, and now the equation is a simple one: win in the Croatian capital to directly qualify for the last 16 of the competition.
However, Dinamo are also playing to win as they sit two points below the last play-off spot, and Sergio Conceicao admitted before the game that he is anticipating a fierce challenge in a hostile environment.
Milan come into the game off the back of two important home wins. Firstly there was the one against Girona, which yielded the first clean sheet of the Conceicao era and, as mentioned, propelled the Rossoneri up the standings.
The one on Sunday in the league was far more chaotic but arguably equally important. Trailing 2-1 to relegation-battling Parma, Tijjani Reijnders and Samuel Chukwueze scored in the 92nd and 95th minutes to engineer a miraculous comeback.
While those two wins were very important for the current Champions League campaign and the hopes of being in it next season, there is still the feeling that Milan are not totally convincing with their performances under the new coach.
In addition to that, he continues to deploy a ‘bulldozer’ mentality by being so uncompromising in his search of discipline. This has led to incidents such as the spat with Davide Calabria at full-time on Sunday, plus the withdrawal of Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez at half-time.
There are some selection issues for Conceicao to deal with too, above all in the right-back role. Calabria will serve a one-game suspension, while Emerson Royal is out for at least two months, Kyle Walker hasn’t been registered yet and Alex Jimenez isn’t in the Champions League squad.
Alessandro Florenzi remains out as he continues to record from a long-term injury, with Malick Thiaw not ready to return just yet. Finally, Ruben Loftus-Cheek was not part of Tuesday’s training session and therefore shouldn’t be considered available.
According to the latest from Sky, Conceicao should name a back four which features Fikayo Tomori at right-back and Theo Hernandez on the other flank, with Strahinja Pavlovic and Matteo Gabbia remaining as the centre-back pairing.
Yunus Musah, Youssouf Fofana and Tijjani Reijnders are expected to make up the three-man midfield, behind an attacking trident of Christian Pulisic, Alvaro Morata and Rafael Leao.
Predicted Milan XI (4-3-3): Maignan; Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlovic, Theo Hernandez; Musah, Fofana, Reijnders; Pulisic, Morata, Leao.
