Much awaited matchday 5 of UEFA Champions League has come up with yet another exciting fixture where Spanish side Atletico Madrid will take on Italian side AC Milan at home.
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Why should you be watching it
Atletico Madrid and Ac Milan currently hold 3rd and 4th place in group B respectively which makes it a must-win encounter for both of the teams. Atletico Madrid will be keen to secure a win to surpass FC Porto in the group. On the other side, AC Milan will try hard to earn all three points to equal the point tally with Atletico Madrid. We all know when it comes to the must-win match all the players give their all to help out their teams and that makes a match even more interesting and entertaining.
Build Up
Atletico Madrid will go into the match with a hard-fought win over Osasuna where Brazilian centre-back Felipe’s late goal saved the day for Diego Simeone’s side. Atletico Madrid has conceded so many goals this season. In the last 5 matches, they have conceded 7 goals but in the last match against Osasuna, they have kept a clean sheet which surely adds to the confidence of their defenders as they are going to face Zlatan Ibrahimovic who has recently scored a brace in the last match. On the other hand, Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez will certainly create a big threat for AC Milan’s defence that conceded four goals in the last match.
Team News
Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid will go into the match without Joao Felix and Kieran Trippier. Griezman along with Felipe, the saviour of their last game also won’t be able to play due to card issues.
Predicted Lineup
Formation 3-4-3
GK: Jan Oblak,
Defense: Stefan Savic, Jose Gimenez, Mario Hermoso,
Midfield: Sime Vrsaljko, Koke, Rodrigo De Paul, Yannick Carrasco, Thomas Lemar,
Attack : Matheus Cunha, Luis Suarez.
AC Milan
For AC Milan, they will be unable to get Ante Rebic, Fikayo Tomori, Davide Calabria and goalkeeper Mike Maignan for this clash.
Predicted Lineup
Formation 4-2-3-1
GK: Tatarusanu
Defense : Kalulu, Kjaer, Romagnoli, Hernandez
CDM: Kessie, Bennacer
Attack: Saelemaekers, Diaz, Leao
ST: Giroud
Head to Head
Both of the teams met each other three times and all the matches went in the favour of Atletico Madrid. In their previous encounter, Atletico Madrid defeated AC Milan by 2-1. Rafael Leao scored the first goal for Milan but two late goals by Suarez and Griezman sealed the deal for Atletico Madrid.
Player to watch out
Luis Suarez
34 years old Uruguayan striker who scored 21 goals for Atletico Madrid in the last season and helped them to win the La Liga title. This season also he already scored 7 goals in La Liga and has been in good goal scoring form. In UCL this season he scored only one goal and significantly that was against AC Milan. The suspension of Griezman and the injury of Joao Felix have put more responsibility of scoring goals on Luis Suarez. So in tomorrow’s clash, you must keep your eyes on him.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
If Atletico has Suarez, Milan has Zlatan. He’s a prolific striker who’s proving age is just a number day by day. 40 years old Swedish Attacker has already added 5 goals in his name this season. But he’s yet to score any in UCL. But most importantly he scored a brace against Florentina and that’ll boost his confidence up for the clash against Atletico Madrid.
Conclusion
Both of the teams are ready to put some valiant efforts to earn all the points from this match. ATM will want to win to edge past FC Porto but they also have to depend on the result of the Liverpool vs Porto match. For AC Milan it’s a do or die situation as a defeat will ensure their exit from this season’s UCL. So this match is surrounded by lots of if and buts and many calculations will arise around it which will make the match even more interesting.
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