Hard, hard, the return to the Champions League for AC Milan.
After three defeats in three matches, the Rossoneri welcome FC Porto on Wednesday (6:45 p.m.), with the obligation to win to avoid a premature exit from the road.
For this dashing Milan in the Italian league, losing 1-0 to Porto was certainly not the "
end of the world
", Zlatan Ibrahimovic had estimated after the setback in the first
leg in
Portugal on October 19.
But after those against Liverpool (2-3) and Atlético Madrid (1-2), this third defeat on the European level was clearly the most worrying, inflicted by the apparently most affordable team of this very tough group B .
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If they had dearly sold their skin against the Reds at Anfield then ten against eleven for an hour against the Colchoneros at San Siro, the Rossoneri had gone through in Porto, deprived of their usual going.
“
We need to progress and learn from these matches.
For many players of the team, this is the first time in the Champions League
, "had recognized"
Ibra
", who was then just back from injury, after this failed performance.
Milan, co-leader in the league with Naples, however proves every week on the Serie A grounds that he knows how to win, with ten victories and a draw in eleven days.
Almost imperative victory
The new success conquered Sunday night at the Olimpico stadium against Roma (2-1), with a lot of control for more than an hour then a good dose of self-sacrifice ten to eleven after the exclusion of Theo Hernandez, has further increased confidence: "
These are matches that give us strength, conviction and morale
», Underlined the trainer Stefano Pioli.
So many virtues that Milan will need in the return phase of the Champions League to hope to return to the first two places or, failing that, to win the third, synonymous with the Europa League in the spring.
In the event of another defeat against Porto (4 points) on Wednesday, the knockout stages of C1 will be officially out of reach.
But the C3 may also be if Atlético (4 pts also) wins in Liverpool (1st with 9 pts).
A draw can maintain a very slim hope but only a victory really seems to be able to offer Milan the opportunity to join Porto and / or Atlético.
Ibrahimovic spared, Giroud holder?
The forty-year-old Ibrahimovic can become the oldest scorer in C1 if he scores ... but his presence on the ground is not a given. The Swede could be spared for the derby against Inter Milan on Sunday, the other big meeting of the week for the Rossoneri. This would allow Olivier Giroud to start in a rush, in a San Siro which is successful for him (the French rookie scored his first four Milan goals). Pioli did not decide between the two, Tuesday at a press conference, and warned those who would think too much about the coming derby. "
We should only think about tomorrow's game, we want to put an end to this series of bad results (...). We don't deserve to have zero points, and we have the opportunity to show it,
”he added.
At the end of September, against Atlético, the tifosi rossoneri had celebrated the return of the Champions League at home after more than seven years of absence.
But against Porto, they will certainly be more demanding and it is a victory in C1 at home that they will claim.
This has not happened since September 2013, against Celtic Glasgow (2-0), for the most successful Italian club in C1 with seven trophies (between 1963 and 2007).