Fresh off a hard fought 3-2 win over Inter - the first victory as the "home" side in a Serie A match in over six years - AC Milan will now turn their attention towards European affairs as they travel to face Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday evening. The Rossoneri are back in European club football's top tier competition for the second consecutive season thanks to winning the Scudetto last term, and Stefano Pioli will naturally hope that his team will perform better than last year, during which the Diavolo embarrassingly finished bottom of a very tough quartet featuring English and Spanish giants Liverpool and Atletico Madrid as well as Porto.
Still, having to come from behind to secure a 3-2 win against the Nerazzurri will have done wonders for Milan's confidence, and given the form of their upcoming opponents, the visiting side will need all the confidence they can get. Salzburg cruised to the top of the Austrian Bundelsliga last season without much fuss, and they have continued in the same vein of form this season, with six wins from their first seven matches. Current coach Matthias Jaissle has had to deal with a spate of player departures, including last season's top goalscorer Karim Adeyemi, but the team have managed to hang on to youngster Benjamin Sesko, who will be moving to RB Leipzig in 2023.
Like Milan, Salzburg experienced disappointment in last season's Champions League. Although they qualified for the knockout rounds, they unfortunately ended up being paired with Bayern Munich in the round of 16, and to little surprise, the German titans showed them no mercy, crushing them 8-2 on aggregate to dump die Roten Bullen out of the competition. As such, in what will be their fifth appearance, they naturally will be hoping to have a better run, but will be facing a frustrating hoodoo that has plagued Austrian teams when it comes to playing against Italian sides.
Indeed, to date, no Austrian side have beaten an Italian team in the Champions League, with a record of two draws and eight losses to date. That being said, Milan have struggled for results in this competition lately, with just one win from their last nine UCL matches (D2 L6), and have not won back to back away games since 2009.
All in all, both teams will be looking to get off the mark quickly, and it will be interesting to see if in the process, either Salzburg or Milan will be able to put their frustrating runs behind them as both obviously will be looking to get out of their quartet, which also contains two-time Champions League winners Chelsea and Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb for company.
Head to head: Salzburg vs Milan
- Red Bull Salzburg have never lost their first group stage match of a UCL campaign (P4 W1 D3)
- Die Roten Bullen are featuring in the UCL for the fifth time
- However, no Austrian side have ever beaten an Italian team in this competition (D2 L8)
- Milan have won just one of their last nine UCL matches (D2 L6), with that win being a November 2021 away tie with Atletico Madrid
- The Rossoneri are hoping to win back to back away matches in this competition for the first time since 2009
- Milan have won their last five meetings with Austrian sides, and overall have lost just one of their last 11 matches against Austrian teams in European competitions (W8 D2)
- Salzburg and Milan are meeting for the third time in European competition; the Rossoneri won both ties back during the 1994/95 Champions League group stage
Team news: Salzburg vs Milan
Salzburg: The visitors will be missing quite a few players, including Mamady Diambou, Kamil Piątkowski, Sékou Koïta, and Samson Tijani, while Luka Sučić is in doubt due to a groin injury.
Milan: Zlatan Ibrahimović, Rade Krunic, Alessandro Florenzi and Ante Rebić are all set to miss this match due to varying injuries.
Broadcast info: Salzburg vs Milan
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Match details, result and original broadcast info
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