Wednesday is the final matchday in the Champions League Group Stage, and Milan and Salzburg are battling for second spot in Group E as Chelsea has all but wrapped up top spot and Dinamo Zagreb are out of contention. Milan suffered their first away loss in the league in almost a year on Sunday with a disturbing 2-1 loss to Torino, breaking their streak at 17 matches. Meanwhile, after drawing with them in September, Salzburg come to the San Siro confident, top of the Austrian Bundesliga and with a win on Saturday as well. Both teams will be fighting for qualification to the Round of 16 and for all of the money that comes along with it.
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| Even though we're now also missing our captain, goalkeeper, and scorer from the first match, let's do this |
Salzburg, with their exceptional young team, have drawn with each team in Group E, and also lost to Chelsea and beat Dinamo Zagreb in their home matches in Austria. Now they have to try to win away in order to qualify for the knockout stage. In the league, they have won 10 matches, drawn three, and only lost one so far this season.
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| Both teams fighting for the Round of 16 |
For their 1-0 win over Hartberg on Sunday, Jaissle lined up: Köhn; Wöber, Bernardo, Piatkowski, van der Brempt; Agyekum, Youba Diarra, Seiwald; Kameri; Sesko, and Roko Simić, son of former Milan player and current scout, Dario Simić. As of this writing, Jaissle will be missing Koita, Capaldo, and Fernando to injury, with Solet in doubt and also Tijani, although he has returned to training.
Pioli just signed a much-deserved contract renewal until 2025, but will be missing at least five important players: Ibrahimović, Florenzi, Calabria, Maignan, and Saelemaekers. It was Saelemaekers who scored in the first leg against Salzburg, and while the team has grown and changed so much since he was injured, having those five players out definitely hurts Milan's chances. The team and mentality are wearing thin without so many important players for so long.
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| Pioli's contract extension is deserved, and includes incentives for the UCL |
While Milan's budget was not created dependent upon moving on, the goal for this year was to progress in the Champions League past the Group Stage. The money will also make a difference, too, as Maldini has been working with pennies for years now, and could really use some proper cash to reinforce the team next year. Unfortunately, it all comes down to this match. Milan need either a draw or a win in this match to move on. A loss will not be good enough. So this one is for all the money.
This post inspired by the music of NIN "Head Like a Hole"
Our next match is
Reviewed by Elaine
on
2:20 AM
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