Our prediction for this Champions League match:
A place in the Champions League quarter-finals will be at stake when Milan and Tottenham face each other in a highly-anticipated double-header. Milan quickly bounced back from the heart-breaking loss to Inter, with the team beating Torino thanks to Olivier Giroud’s goal, and, no doubt, the triumph gave them a confidence boost. There are no fresh injury worries in the Italian outfit, but all Dest, Florenzi, Maignan remain in the recovery room.
Both Bennacer and Tomori should recover in time to face Tottenham, while this match comes too early for fit-again striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Spurs, on the other hand, experienced all sorts of problems at the back in a 4-1 loss to Leicester, and seeing that Milan have turned “San Siro” into a real fortress, we are tempted to put our money on Stefano Pioli’s troops. As for the visiting side, defender Cristian Romero is back from a domestic ban, while midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg serves a one-game ban.
Highlighted Player (Harry Kane):
Widely regarded as one of England’s best strikers at the moment, Harry Kane enjoyed a meteoric rise at Tottenham Hotspur, scoring 21 Premier League goals during the 2014/2015 campaign to be voted PFA Young Player of the Year.
The highly rated striker went on to surpass that achievement the following season as he helped Tottenham Hotspur mount a serious title challenge for the first time in club’s recent history and he made seamless transition to international football. Kane scored four goals in his first ten appearances for England to prove he was here to stay and at the same time established himself as a first choice striker in Roy Hodgson’s squad ahead of the Euro 2016 finals.
Kane is a modern striker, who is extremely dangerous in the opposition box, but it was some outstanding goals from distance as well as link-up play with teammates that earned him an excellent reputation in world football. Kane is expected to lead both Tottenham and England in years to come, that is if he can resist the lure of top European clubs that continue to cast admiring glances his way.
Highlighted Team (Milan):
AC Milan are regarded as one of the biggest club in Italy. The Rossoneri compete in the Italian Serie A and they have won 18 domestic trophies. Speaking of the club’s European success, Milan have clinched seven Champions League (European Cup) trophies.
Milan were on the verge of beating Liverpool in the 2005 Champions League final, but the Premier League outfit came from three goals behind and eventually won the prestigious trophy on penalties. The Rossoneri play their home games at Stadio San Siro (80,018), the stadium that was opened in 1926. It is well known that Milan’s bitterest rivals are Inter and there have always been fireworks when the two local rivals face each other in the Derby della Madonnina.
Milan were founded in 1899 by a lace-maker from England named Herbert Kilpin and a businessman Alfred Edwards. Milan’s home kits are red and black and that is why the team’s nickname is Rossoneri (The Red and Blacks).
The likes of Alessandro Costacurta, Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Roberto Donadoni, Dejan Savicevic, Frank Rijkaard, Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Andrea Pirlo are the most famous footballers who have represented the San Siro outfit.