Champions League Playoffs • AC Milan vs. Feyenoord Rotterdam: All on the Line

After a disappointing 1-0 loss in the rain in Rotterdam last week, Milan have 90 minutes to turn it around and go through to the Champions League Round of 16. One massive advantage is that the team will finally have their fans behind them, with at least 60,000 fans expected at the San Siro. Both teams just played on Saturday, with Milan winning 1-0 over Verona and Feyenoord playing to a goalless draw. But this match is literally worth another €11 million for the team that moves on, while the other team is out of the Champions League for the season. So it is quite literally all on the line.

It's not the team in the spotlight, it's the fans this time.

After dismissing their head coach a week ago, Feyenoord have yet to replace him, so  are still being managed by interim manager Pascal Bosschaart. He was able to manage the match well with Milan and got a huge win, but was only able to earn a 0-0 draw with 10th place NAC Breda on Saturday. For that match, he lined up Wellenreuther; Read, Beelen, Hancko, Hartman; Milambo, Moder, Ivanušec; Hadj Moussa, Carranza, and Paixão. Bosschaart will still be missing Stengs, Bijlow, Lotomba, Truaner, and Zerrouki to injury, but also Quinten Timber, and Nieuwkoop from his Champions League squad.

Feyenoord had their fans in Rotterdam, but what can they do at the San Siro?

Conceição has had other things on his mind. The loss of Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, president of Porto, was a tough loss for him, as he was like a father to Conceição, who had lost his actual father when he was just 16 years old. He did not do the press conference following the Verona match Saturday night, and returned to Portugal for the funeral services. My heart goes out to Conceição at this time, I hope he is able to find some peace, and love and prayers also go out to the Pinto da Costa family.

Unfortunately, there was not much time for mourning, as Milan have a very important match on Tuesday. And for that match, from his Champions League squad, he will again be missing Florenzi, Emerson Royal, and Loftus-Cheek to injury, while Álex Jiménez, Jović, Bondo, and Sottil were not included on the list. But he will have Musah this time, who was missed last week.

El Bebote is hungry for goals, even at Feyenoord's expense.

After showing all his cards early in starting the "Fantastic Four" of Leão, Pulisic, João Félix, and Santiago Gimenez, he is likely to start a more balanced team this time around and add attackers as necessary. Of course, rumors abound about who will start on the bench, but I very much trust that having played them last week, Conceição will have the answers to get the goals we need to overcome the deficit and move on. Santi got a taste of what it's like to score at San Siro on Saturday, and despite Feyenoord being his former team, I'm sure he'll have no problem scoring again. 

As Ibrahimović emphasized in his prematch press conference, the fans will be so important to the team in this match. While our Curva Sud boycotted the Feyenoord match last week due to the new way tickets are sold, Feyenoord fans are far more... supportive. As early as Friday, their Ultras were looking at buying up the extra tickets in the home sections at the San Siro.

Conceição, Ibrahimović, Walker, and others have pleaded for the fans' support.

One report stated that while Feyenoord were only given 5,000 tickets, as many as 12,000 fans may travel to Milano for the match. Should this occur, our lightweight Ultras will need to be in full voice to support our team. But the police will also need to show up in full force, because Feyenoord fans have a reputation for wreaking havoc wherever they go. The last thing this tie needs is fan violence, the football was ugly enough last week.

Milan will need to win by at least two goals to go through, a daunting task. But winning in cup ties is also Conceição's specialty, so I would not count us out just yet. If the fans can get behind the team, we have the players to pull this off. Conceição has said the club is nothing without it's fans, that they need to be the first man, not the 12th man. It will be a very real test for everyone, with everything all on the line.

This post inspired by the music of The Prodigy's "Omen"

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Our next matches are:

Champions League Playoffs

AC Milan vs. Feyenoord Rotterdam

Tuesday, February 18, 2025 • 18:45 CET (12:45pm EST)

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Primavera Campionato 1 Week 26

Cagliari Primavera vs. Milan Primavera

Wednesday, February 19, 2025 • 13:00 CET (7am EST)

This match is not being televised in the U.S.

Serie C Week 28

Milan Futuro vs. Pescara

Sunday, February 23, 2025 • 12:30 CET (6:30am EST)

This match is not being televised in the U.S.