Yahoo Sports The five key battles that could win or lose the game for Milan against Red Star
AC Milan continue their Champions League campaign tonight against Red Star at San Siro, hoping to rack up a fourth straight win in the competition.
It should be anything but an easy game despite looking like the favourites on paper, though. Red Star have won all but one league game (with a +46 goal difference) and they hammered Stuttgart 5-1 in their last European fixture.
However, they have already been beaten 4-0 by Inter at San Siro this season and 5-2 at home by Barcelona, showing a certain vulnerability that Milan will look to exploit.
The five key battles
We start with the man that the Italian media have picked out as the key for Milan: Rafael Leao. He only has four UCL goals to his name since arriving but did score against Slovan Bratislava last time out. With Christian Pulisic injured, he will have to be the main creative and possibly scoring outlet.
Since the start of last season, Rafael Leão leads all Milan players in major European competition for goals and assists combined (5 goals, 4 assists), shots attempted (36), dribbles (93) and ball carry distance (3,377m).
Given that the Portuguese winger has been playing more centrally, he should come up against the right-sided centre-back Yacouba Nasser Djiga. The 22-year-old Burkinabé international is still a rookie at this level and could get a tough examination, so Ognjen Mimovic may have to help double up.
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At the other end, Silas Katompa Mvumpa seems to be the main danger for Red Star out wide. He has scored in each of his last two Champions League appearances – including against his parent club Stuttgart – and the last player to net in three in a row in the competition was Milan icon Dejan Savicevic.
It has been a rough season so far for Theo Hernandez, meanwhile. The left-back has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons recently – namely his form and off-field issues such as his headspace and renewal – so it would be welcome if he could turn a corner soon. Perhaps this test will light a spark.
Tijjani Reijnders has scored six goals this season for Milan and three of them have come in the Champions League, most recently against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. He remains the creative key for the Rossoneri and will once again occupy the left-sided spot in the double pivot.
His opposite number should thus be Timi Max Elšnik, who himself has five goal contributions this season and is seen as a box-to-box profile. For both balancing the tasks between getting forward and helping out off the ball will be crucial.
Moving back to Red Star’s attack, Cherif Ndiaye has been the star performer in the league with nine goals and an assist to his name. The 28-year-old Senegal international has scored twice in 11 Champions League games in his career, with his pace and his size causing issues for any defender.
It is likely to be Malick Thiaw who comes up against him. After a shaky 2023-24 season, the German appears to be resurgent under Paulo Fonseca and should be relied upon once again, in a pairing with Matteo Gabbia.
Finally, tonight will mark the return of Rade Krunic as Milan’s opponent for the first time. He has spoken in the build-up about why things turned sour so quickly at the club, citing Paolo Maldini’s exit, and now he is with Red Star after just a few months at Fenerbahce.
His task will be to keep tabs on someone who arguably pushed him towards the exit door in Ruben Loftus-Cheek. The Englishman arrived last summer from Chelsea and instantly found himself near the top of the midfield pecking order, but he is currently out of form and Fonseca hopes a game starting behind the striker will help him catch fire again.
