Champions League is back on the docket and Milan are in a prime position to secure a top 8 slot, ensuring a bye and spot in the knockout round of 16. Milan have been good in Champions League since losing to Liverpool and Leverkusen to start, notching 5 straight wins and have already secured their position in the knockouts.
As most of us know, Champions League is a different beast and even smaller clubs can put up a fierce fight, especially when at home. Dinamo Zagreb is no exception, throw in a chance for them to advance to the knockouts, and Milan is going to have to take all 3 points as surely nothing will be given. Dinamo need a win to have that chance, so expect an herculean effort.
Milan could maybe secure a top 8 with a draw but would need some things to break their way, but a win and it’s theirs. They control their own fate…let’s see what they can do.
LAST FIVE
DINAMO ZAGREB: WLWLD
MILAN: WWLWD
FORMATIONS
DINAMO ZAGREB (3-5-2): Nevistic; Torrente, Theophile-Catherine, Mmaee; Pierre-Gabriel, Baturina, Ademi (C), Misic, Pjaca; Stojkovic, Kulenovic
MILAN (4-2-3-1): Maignan (C); Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlovic, Hernández; Fofana, Musah; Pulisic, Reijnders, Leão; Morata
TIME/LOCATION
TIME: 3pm EST/8pm GMT
PLACE: Stadion Maksimir, Zagreb, Croatia
WHERE TO WATCH:
Paramount + has your Champions League action in the US. Check your local listings.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR:
DINAMO ZAGREB
DINAMO ZAGREB
Dinamo Zagreb have been hot and cold in Champions League, getting absolutely demolished by Bayern Munich 9-2 and losing to both Dortmund and Arsenal 3-0. They’ve also won 2, beating RB Salzburg 2-0 and Slovan Bratislava 4-1, while drawing with Monaco and Celtic. Both of their wins were on the road while they’ve managed 2 draws and a loss at home. And of course as mentioned at the top, they have an outside shot at qualification to the knockouts so expect a full effort from the Croatian side.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
ATTACK
The Dinamo attack is anchored and ran through their #10, MARTIN BATURINA. He’s by far their best player per FotMob and leads the team in assists. SANDRO KULENOVIC is their main scorer and leads the team in goals, including 3 in Champions League. The offense will come through these two in most cases, but LW MARKO PJACA can also cause some havoc.
DEFENSE
Dinamo’s best defender, KEVIN THEOPHILE-CATHERINE, returns from an achilles injury and he’s pairing with RAUL TORRENTE and SAMY MMAEE in a back 3, something they don’t appear to have utilized on the regular. Should be interesting and maybe something Milan ca exploit. Captain ARIJAN ADEMI is the muscle anchoring the midfield.
MILAN
MILAN
Milan come into the game about as healthy as they’ve been since early December and on the heels of that thrilling come from behind win over Parma last weekend in the league. While that win was much needed, it’s also imperative that Milan begin to take charge in these games early, get an early lead and build on it to put the game to bed sooner rather than later.
With the off/poor games from Leão and Theo last time out, I’m fully expecting them to rebound and be a force in this game. So expect them to dominate their side of the pitch. Leão in particular has been really good of late in Champions League, having scored in his last 3 games, so this only strengthens my perspective that we’re going to get a solid effort. I’m expecting Dinamo to sit back so they’re going to need some help breaking through as well.
That help needs to come from Pulisic, Reijnders, and Morata. Pulisic is going to do his thing so we really need Reijnders to show up, like he has in the Champions League all season and late last game. Make those runs, kid, and get in position to make a difference. Morata, and Abraham when he comes on, need to get more involved and/or be ready for the cross, especially if Dinamo are parking the bus. Their movement can help free up lanes by dragging defenders or helping them get the angle for a well-delivered cross.
Defensively, with Tomori at RB, I’m wondering if we’ll see some 3 at the back for chunks of the game, allowing Fofana to get more advanced and not splitting the CBs when in possession like he normally does. In essence, it seems like the options for this game were Musah at RB and Bennacer in the double pivot, or Tomori at RB and Musah in the double pivot. I like where Conceição landed and probably where I would’ve landed too.
PREDICTION TIME
These things are tough to call. If Milan get an early goal then the gates can get blown open and I can see a multi-goal victory. The longer it lingers tied, either at nil-nil or say 1-1 with a couple of quick goals from each, then I think things can get tricky and tough. So, if Milan can score early and not concede immediately after, then I think Milan can win 3-1 or 4-1. If the latter happens, more of a coin flip but I can see a 2-1 win.
Michael Lisi says: Leão scores in the first half and we cruise 3-1. Zagreb has a slim chance to qualify but that evaporates quickly. Tie leaves it up to goal difference and ours sucks.
Let’s go take it from them!
Forza Milan
gillis