On Tuesday night, Milan's historic San Siro will be the setting for the exciting UEFA Champions League match between AC Milan and Club Brugge. This encounter is a replay of the memorable match won by Blauw-Zwart exactly 21 years ago, thanks to an outragious goal by Mendoza.
THE FIXTURE
On Tuesday evening, Club will face Milan on Matchday 3 of the UCL League Phase, the 364th European match for Club Brugge while AC Milan is preparing for its 438th European clash. For Blauw-Zwart, this is also our 99th UEFA Champions League match, with this campaign being our 11th participation in the group stage.It is exactly 21 years since Club Brugge last played at San Siro against AC Milan, on 22 October 2003 which was a memorabel night thanks to Andrés Mendoza's brilliant goal that bagged all three points that night.
Club Brugge have already travelled to Italy 11 times, totalling 2 wins, 3 draws and 6 defeats. AC Milan has already played a Belgian club 21 times in its history, 6 of which were against Club.
Club started its 11th UEFA Champions League campaign with a 3 out of 6. After a 0-3 loss against Borussia Dortmund and a good 0-1 win against SK Sturm Graz, we are in 21st place in the rankings. With an away game against the traditional Italian superpower, we can once again make our mark in Europe.
AC Milan, who have yet to gather their first point during this campaign, are currently 32nd in the UCL ranking following a 1-3 home defeat against Liverpool and a 1-0 defeat at Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
THE OPPONENT
Associazione Calcio Milan was founded in 1899 and, just like Club, won the national title nineteen times (last time in 2022). It also lifted the Coppa Italia five times. Milan has been very succesful in Europe. Only Real Madrid won more Champions League finals than Milan. The Rossoneri have seven Champions League wins behind their name and also won the Europacup II twice and the UEFA Super Cup five times.
AC Milan plays its home matches at San Siro, or Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The stadium seats 80,000 spectators making it the largest football stadium in the country and one of the largest in Europe. Milan shares the stadium with Internazionale. Since 2019, both clubs have been working on plans for a new stadium, but this would not be started before the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.After eight fixtures in the new Serie A season, AC Milan is ranked fourth with 14 points. Last Saturday, Milan won at home against Udinese Calcio by the narrowest of margins. Nigerian striker Samuel Chukwueze quickly put the home side ahead with a crossed shot. But even within the half-hour, the red-and-black team was reduced to 10 men after a red card for Tijjani Rijnders. Milan were still able to drag the 1-0 win out of the fire, although they were fortunate that an equaliser from Udinese was chalked off for offside.
This season has not been an easy start in the UEFA Champions League. The team, led by coach Paulo Fonseca, started with a disappointing 1-3 defeat against Liverpool and followed this up with a 1-0 defeat against Bayer Leverkusen. With just two games played and no points on the board, they are currently 32nd in the UCL rankings.
Fonseca can count on a number of star players, including French striker Christian Pulisic, who has already scored six goals this season and is also the top marksman for Rossoneri. Portuguese Rafael Leão, who is known for his speed and dribbling, and experienced goalkeeper Mike Maignan are among the key links in the team, while the defence with players like Théo Hernandez and Fikayo Tomori should provide stability.
AC Milan finished second in the league last leason with 75 points, 19 points behind champions Inter and four points ahead of Juventus. In the cup tournament, they tripped over Atalanta in the quarter-finals. In the UEFA Champions League, Milan finished third in a tough group with Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United. After this disappointment, they continued their adventure in the Europa League, where they eliminated Stade Rennais and Slavia Prague, but lost to AS Roma in the quarter-finals. Top marksman Olivier Giroud scored 17 goals, while Rafael Leão often put his fellow players in scoring position with 14 assists.
MILESTONES
- Andreas Skov Olsen can play his 110th official match for Club Brugge. The Dane can also complete his 20th European match for Club.
- Hugo Vetlesen can come into action for Blauw-Zwart for the 70th time.
- Simon Mignolet can be between the posts for the 50th time in Europe for Club.
- Raphael Onyedika can play for the 10th time in the UCL with Club.
MAN IN BLACK
The German Felix Zwayer has been appointed referee for the UEFA Champions League match on Tuesday. He will be assisted by countrymen Robert Kempter and Christian Dietz, who will act as assistant referees. Florian Badstübner will take on the role of fourth official, while Christian Dingert will act as VAR, supported by Sören Storks. The UEFA referee observer for this match is Norway's Terje Hauge, while France's Claude Runavot will be present as UEFA representative.Zwayer is an experienced UEFA elite referee who, for example, whistled the semi-final between the Netherlands and Spain during Euro 2024 and the 2023 UEFA Nations League final between Croatia and Spain, as well as the 2019 Greek cup final and the 2018 German cup final.
This is the first time for Zwayer to be in charge of a Club Brugge match, despite already having refereed several European matches of other Belgian teams like Charleroi, Genk, Gent, Anderlecht, Zulte Waregem and even the Red Devils.