AC Milan have a 1-0 deficit to make up when they host Feyenoord in the second leg of their Champions League play-off tie on Tuesday night.
New Rossoneri boss Sergio Conceicao has built an impressive reputation as an adept coach on the continental stage, but his Milan team were comfortably second best in Rotterdam last week. The Italian side never recovered from Igor Paixao’s early goal and are fortunate their deficit is only one ahead of the return leg.
However, they are facing a decimated Feyenoord team on home soil that’s still without a permanent manager. Their domestic issues continued at the weekend as they were held by NAC Breda in the Eredivisie.
Milan, meanwhile, were uninspiring in their 1-0 victory over a Hellas Verona side that’s battling against relegation.
Here’s 90min’s preview of Tuesday’s Champions League play-off second leg.
Milan vs Feyenoord head-to-head Record (All games)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Milan |
Feyenoord |
|---|---|
|
Milan 1-0 Hellas Verona – 15/02/25 |
NAC Breda 0-0 Feyenoord – 15/02/25 |
|
Feyenoord 1-0 Milan – 12/02/25 |
Feyenoord 1-0 Milan – 12/02/25 |
|
Empoli 0-2 Milan – 08/02/25 |
Feyenoord 3-0 Sparta Rotterdam – 08/02/25 |
|
Milan 3-1 Roma – 05/02/25 |
PSV 2-0 Feyenoord – 05/02/25 |
|
Milan 1-1 Inter – 02/02/25 |
Ajax 2-1 Feyenoord – 02/02/25 |
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
discovery+, discovery+ App, TNT Sports 3 |
|
United States |
Paramount+, fuboTV, TUDN.com, Univision NOW, TUDN App, TUDN USA, UniMás |
|
Canada |
DAZN Canada |
Santiago Gimenez was kept quiet back at De Kuip last week, but the Mexican continued his bright start to life in Milan by scoring again at the weekend. He’ll start against his former club again on Tuesday.
Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic should return to Conceicao’s starting XI having appeared off the bench against Verona. Yunus Musah and Riccardo Sottil will drop to the bench.
Milan are still without Emerson Royal, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Alessandro Florenzi.
Milan predicted lineup vs Feyenoord (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Walker, Thiaw, Pavlovic, Hernandez; Reijnders, Fofana; Pulisic, Felix, Leao; Gimenez.
Oussama Targhalline and Stephano Carrillo were involved in Feyenoord’s matchday squad at the weekend, with the former making his debut for the club, but neither player is registered to feature in this competition.
The visitors’ injury list remains extensive, and they’re once again set to be without an array of core players. Justin Bijlow, Quinten Timber, Calvin Stengs, Jordan Lotomba, Gernot Trauner and Bart Nieuwkoop are all out.
Chris-Kevin Nadje, Ramiz Zerrouki and In-Beom Hwang are doubts.
Feyenoord predicted lineup vs Milan (4-3-3): Wellenreuther; Nieuwkoop, Beelen, Hancko, Smal; Milambo, Moder, Ivanusec; Hadj Moussa, Ueda, Paixao.
The only way is up for the hosts after their flat showing in Rotterdam, but Saturday’s performance against Verona won’t exactly inspire confidence among Rossoneri supporters.
However, it shouldn’t be overlooked what Feyenoord are up against here. Milan are no super team, but they’re travelling to San Siro without a host of key names having lost their top scorer to the Italian club in January. Interim boss Pascal Bosschart will also be in the dugout again following the departure of Brian Priske.
There may just be too much for the visitors to overcome. While they should boast a threat in transition through the excellent Paixao, Milan look poised to overturn their 1-0 deficit at home.
