AC MILAN v PSG: THE BRIEFING

"Ce sont les meilleures équipes." They are the best teams, as says the Champions League anthem. A category that Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan's next opponent, definitely belong to. Another European night at San Siro, a victory is needed to climb the rankings in an even group where anything is still possible. A match that we are going to introduce with three key points in our Briefing, to best frame the fourth European night of our season so far.

THE CURRENT STATE OF THE TWO TEAMS
A stage as important as the Champions League is the perfect platform to seek revenge, and an opponent of such a high level just strengthens this idea. "It will require an excellent game," said Pioli ahead of the match against the French champions, who are currently in a rich vein of form. Since their heavy loss at Newcastle at the beginning of October, Luis Enrique's team have won every single one of their five subsequent matches across Ligue 1 and Europe, scoring exactly three goals in every match. The two contenders are in different situations as they approach this crucial 90 minutes. This is why San Siro's contribution will also be important: in our history, in face, there have been various examples of the crowd proving to be the extra weapon in key Champions League ties. 

ROSSONERI RECOVERIES
To improve the mood at the Rossoneri, various important players have made recoveries and Pioli can now count on them. Whilst Ruben Loftus-Cheek managed to get minutes in the tank in the league against Udinese, Christian Pulisic and Theo Hernández, absent against the Friulians, will also be available whilst Samuel Chukwueze makes his long-awaited return, unavailable since Genoa v AC Milan a month ago. Whilst in defence the choices remain fairly fixed, the Rossoneri's ability to count on a wider rotation could prove to be an extra weapon, especially given the need to capitalise on chances at goal. In the first 270 minutes of the European competition, AC Milan have created a lot (Pioli's team are fifth out of the 32 teams in the group stages for shots taken) but are still yet to score a goal. PSG could adopt a more wait-and-see approach - in their last two outings against Brest and Montpellier, Luis Enrique fielded an attacking 4-2-2-2 - thanks to their results so far, but they are a team that tend to concede. And AC Milan know how to create and finish in the final third.

MIRRORED TACTICS AND POSSIBLE VARIATIONS
That very wait-and-see approach might could push the Spanish coach to adopt a different approach, returning to the 4-3-3 he used in the first match on 25 October. AC Milan have also adopted different tactical formations than their usual 4-3-3 in the last two weeks. It's certainly plausible to predict that the two coaches will have 'mirroring' set-ups, both in build up and in attack. AC Milan and PSG, however, are not rigid tactical teams and have shown the ability to vary their approach, proposing different solutions over the course of the 90 minutes. In a match as important and thrilling as this, the ability to refuse any kind of foothold to your opponents could make the difference, which could point to the importance of the two midfielders. Vitinha, Zaïre-Emery and Ugarte were among the stars of PSG's win over the Rossoneri. At home, however, the Rossoneri could opt for the versatility of Musah and Reijnders in addition to the recovered Loftus-Cheek and Adli, who will likely be called upon for important minutes. 

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