Milan’s infamous San Siro Stadium will be a sea of red this evening, as AC Milan are the designated home team for the first leg of this mouthwatering UEFA Champions League semifinal. Under Stefano Pioli’s guidance, AC Milan are unbeaten since mid-March – while their local rivals Internazionale lost against Monza in the middle of April.
Domestically, these are two teams that have perhaps failed to live up to their traditional high standards as of late. Inter occupy the fourth spot in Serie A, with AC Milan trailing them by two points. Lazio and Juventus aren’t out of reach though – while Napoli have already been crowned Italian champions as they won their third Scudetto.
To progress to this stage of the Champions League, Stefano Pioli’s AC Milan picked up a narrow win over Tottenham, before settling for a draw in the return leg. They stayed in Italy for their quarterfinal tie, earning a 1-0 win at home before a draw in Naples.
Simone Inzaghi’s Inter have faced two Portuguese opponents in the knockout stages of this year’s competition. They clinched a 1-0 win at the San Siro against Porto, then played out a goalless draw at the Estádio do Dragão. The Italians picked up a win on the Iberian peninsula next time out though, which would prove crucial as they were held to a 3-3 draw the following week back on home soil.
These two Milanese giants have faced off three times already this season, with both sides winning one game in the league. However, it was Inter that prevailed in the final of the Supercoppa Italiana – securing a comfortable 3-0 win in Saudi Arabia.
Team News
Stefano Pioli’s AC Milan don’t have too many fitness concerns to worry about – except for their star forward, Rafael Leão. The Portuguese winger was forced off through injury just twelve minutes into their game against Lazio, and remains a huge doubt ahead of this first leg. Pioli insists that Leão trained with the squad yesterday, but the Italian has not yet decided whether he’ll feature in the matchday squad.
Inter’s squad also looks fairly healthy, with Robin Gosens and Milan Skriniar the only absentees. Other than that, Simone Inzaghi has a fully fit squad to choose from. Edin Dzeko, Lautaro Martinez and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were all rested on the weekend – which could provide a good insight into the Italian’s ideal starting lineup. Romelu Lukaku has found form recently too though, so the final eleven will be difficult to predict.
Predicted Lineups
AC Milan: Maignan; Calabria, Tomori, Kjaer, Hernandez; Tonali, Krunic; Diaz, Bennacer, Saelemaekers; Giroud
Internazionale: Onana; Darmian, Acerbi, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Brozovic, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Martinez, Lukaku
Where can I watch?
Kickoff at the San Siro is at 8pm UK time on Wednesday, 10 May 2023. The game will be shown live on BT Sport 1, with coverage starting at 7pm. If you don’t have BT Sport, fear not – we’ll have a detailed match report published within minutes of the final whistle.
