AC Milan vs. Feyenoord: UCL Match Preview, Odds & Prediction

Feyenoord will return to San Siro on Tuesday for the second leg of their Champions League playoff against AC Milan. After taking a narrow lead, they hope to seal the deal.

If the managerless Dutch giants can hold on to their one-goal lead, they will face either Inter Milan or Arsenal in the round of 16. Sergio Conceicao's team was startled by the 1-0 victory at De Kuip in their first match.

Previous Matches and Head-to-head

Mike Maignan, AC Milan's goalkeeper and widely regarded as one of the best in Europe, was actually responsible for the game-winning goal in the first leg when Igor Paixao's third-minute shot went indefinitely past him.

AC Milan wants to make amends in the rematch, but history is not on their side. The decisive factor in a rainy Rotterdam was one long-range attempt from the electric Paixao, who is reportedly being monitored by a handful of Premier League clubs.

Indeed, Conceicao's squad still loves playing at home, even if the Rossoneri have only progressed from one of their previous six Champions League knockout matches when losing the first leg (remarkable comeback against Manchester United in the 2006–07 semi-finals).

Despite being benched last week against his previous club, Feyenoord, Santiago Gimenez scored the lone goal in Saturday's 1-0 Serie A victory against Hellas Verona. Gimenez joined the red and black from Rotterdam in the January transfer window.

They may have to go all the way in the 2024-25 UCL to secure their spot in continental football next term, but Milan, when billed as the 'home' team at their shared San Siro headquarters, have now gone 12-games without defeat in all competitions since October's 2-0 loss to Napoli.

Also, Feyenoord made the highly daring choice to fire head coach Brian Priske two days before facing the seven-time European champions, which is far from where they want to be domestically. Meanwhile, Ajax and PSV Eindhoven are in a two-way struggle for the Eredivisie championship.

After coordinating a 3-0 victory against Sparta Rotterdam, Priske was forced to vacate his office due to what the board called a "lack of progress" under the Dane. However, Pascal Bosschaart, who temporarily took over for Priske, won over the supporters in an even more spectacular fashion last week.

Even if the Rotterdam giants' usual shortcomings surfaced again over the weekend, the former Feyenoord player is now trying to lead them to the quarterfinals of Europe's top event for the first time since the 1974–75 season, which was five years before he was born.

Following their thrilling victory over Milan, Feyenoord were sent down to earth in a goalless draw with NAC Breda in the top tier. This was their sixth straightaway game without a win across all competitions and their second consecutive game without scoring a goal.

On the bright side, Tuesday's opponents have proven to be entertaining Champions League road warriors, scoring 22 goals (or more than five goals per game) in four games this season. However, they haven't managed a clean sheet in a Champions League away game since September 2002.

AC Milan x Feyenoord Team News

Fortunately for Conceicao and Milan, none of their players were sidelined by new injuries or suspensions in the first leg, and the hosts got USA international Yunus Musah returned from the ban he served in Rotterdam.

It is challenging to see Ruben Loftus-Cheek making a comeback from his muscle issue, given the short turnaround from the weekend and the fact that Alessandro Florenzi (ACL), Emerson Royal (calf), and Pierre Kalulu (muscle) are all still out with injuries.

Christian Pulisic and Rafael Leao, who were both substituted off in last weekend's victory over Verona, should return to the starting lineup this week. Leao, in particular, set up Gimenez for the winning goal and has 33 more successful dribbles than any other player in the Champions League this season.

Ayase Ueda and captain Quinten Timber were replaced due to hamstring and knee injuries, respectively, and missed the match with NEC over the weekend. This highlights the high cost of Feyenoord's hard-fought first-leg victory.

Feyenoord is dealing with several injuries, including those to Calvin Stengs (hamstring), Chris-Kevin Nadje (foot), Hwang In-beam (unspecified), Bart Nieuwkoop (unspecified), Ramiz Zerrouki (leg), Jordan Lotomba (leg), Justin Bijlow (knee), and Gernot Trauner (unspecified). Whether either man can overcome these concerns in time for Tuesday is an open question.

Bosschaart could be shorthanded for a tough comeback match due to the ineligibility of highly-rated left-back Quilindschy Hartman, who returned from a significant knee injury earlier this month.

Our predictions

AC Milan to win & Under 4.5 goals @ 1.76 on Sky247.ng

Although Feyenoord's away encounters have been anything from boring this season, the second-lowest total of any UCL game this season was 1.06 Expected Goals (xG) between the two teams in last week's first leg.

But with the Eredivisie team hurting badly and Milan reinforcing their San Siro home lately, it's easy to see Conceicao's soldiers making up for what happened in the first leg and setting up a tantalizing Milan derby in the round of 16.

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