AC MILAN v PSG: OPPONENT REVIEW

Two points from three matches and a table that needs climbing. AC Milan have the perfect opportunity in front of them to change their fortunes in their European campaign and remain in the running for qualification to the Round of 16. Tuesday 7 October, at 21:00 CET, Paris Saint-Germain come to San Siro, cynical and ruthless in the last round against the Rossoneri and currently top of a very difficult Group F with 6 points. 

PSG have always shown themselves to be extremely efficient and solid in the Champions League group stages, having scored in their last 47 matches in a row, the longest streak ever recorded in this phase of the competition. The last team to keep a clean sheet against the French in the group stages were Real Madrid in November 2015 (0-1). Beware, however, of their recent away performances: Luis Enrique's team have lost their last two away matches in the tournament, including the 4-1 loss to Newcastle this season. 

A WHOLE NEW PSG: A PRESSING REVOLUTION
In the match at the Parc des Princes, PSG put all of the strengths of Luis Enrique's style on display: lots of possession, a desire to dominate the play in the opposition's half and above all, quality on the ball, shown by their 87.3% passing accuracy in that match and 88.3% overall. One other element stands out that confirms the Parisian's desire to control the match: they have allowed their opponents the fewest passes outside of their offensive third so far in the competition, 724. 

In other words, the revolution led by Luis Enrique also prioritises the disruption of the opponent's play. His team in fact lead the PPDA metric, which compares the number of passes made by the opposition in their two-thirds of the pitch with the number of defensive actions made by the team in that area: PSG's figure of 9.3 is the lowest in the tournament, a sign of PSG's intention to put the utmost pressure on their opponent. A radical change, considering that their PPDA value last season was 14.3. 

THE USUAL MBAPPÉ AND RISING STAR ZAÏRE-EMERY: THE FRENCH ACES
The main threats for the Rossonero rearguard and concentrated in PSG's spearhead: Kylian Mbappé. The Frenchman took the most shots (five) and played the most balls into the area (nine) against the Rossoneri at the Parc des Princes, forcing AC Milan to double-up on him every time he took possession of the ball. The 25-year-old comes to San Siro with an important statistic up his sleeve in terms of away goals: since his Champions League debut (2016/17), only Lewandowski (25) has scored more away goals than him (23) in the competition. 

As well as Mbappé, Pioli's team will have to look out for the rising star of French football, Warren Zaïre-Emery. The 17-year-old, who created as many as four chances against the Rossoneri, is top of the assist rankings in this year's Champions League (three, two of which in the match against Il Diavolo); he has also become the first player to provide more than two assists in the competition before his 18th birthday. 

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