NAPOLI v AC MILAN: FUN FACTS

AC Milan and Napoli are ready for the final act. Coach Pioli's Rossoneri, determined in the mature 1-0 win at San Siro in the first leg less than a week ago, go into the game against Spalletti's Azzurri on the back of a 1-1 draw with Bologna in Serie A. A place in the Champions League semi-finals is at stake in the showdown at Maradona. Here are the main statistics and fun facts ahead of Napoli v AC Milan.

PREVIOUS MEETINGS AND POSSIBILITIES
AC Milan have already beaten Napoli twice this month: 4-0 in Serie A at Maradona and 1-0 at San Siro in the reverse fixture of this European tie. The last team to beat the Partenopei three times in a season was Lazio in the 1994/95 one. Furthermore, the Rossoneri have won their last three away trips to Naples, all in Serie A: it's the longest-ever winning away streak against the side from Campania, matching the one between 1948 and 1951. The last time AC Milan beat a side two times in a single season away from home was against Sampdoria in 2015/16.

EUROPEAN TRADITION
AC Milan last reached the Champions League semi-finals in the 2006/07 season. The Rossoneri have only been knocked out twice after having won the first leg in a knockout game: in 2003/04 against Deportivo La Coruña - in the quarter-finals - and in 2012/13 against Barcelona in the Round of 16. Up against them, the Rossoneri face a Napoli side who haven't lost in twelve Champions League home games (9W, 3D), or since the 4-2 defeat to Manchester City in November 2017. The Partenopei, though, have been eliminated in their last ten knockout fixtures in European competitions after losing the first leg. The last time they got through, after being beaten in the frst game, dates all the way back to the 1988/89 UEFA Cup against Juventus.

CLEAN SHEETS
AC Milan have not conceded a goal in their last five Champions League games, which is the longest running streak for any side in the competition since Manchester City did it in 2020/21 (seven on that occasion). The Rossoneri have bettered this, though, having had seven clean sheets in the 2004/05 season, as they went on to reach the final.

INDIVIDUALS' BRILLIANCE
Olivier Giroud has been involved in six goals (four goals and two assists) in nine Champions League games this season: no other AC Milan player has done better in a single edition since Zlatan Ibrahimović in 2011/12 (nine; five finishes and four winning assists). Only Vinícius Júnior (36) has made more successful completed dribbles than Rafael Leão (33) in this year's Champions League. Nevertheless, the Portuguese star has completed more than any other opposing player in the current ongoing knockout phases (18). The 33 successful dribbles successfully completed by Leão is a record for an AC Milan player in a single season since Kaká in the 2004/05 one (37).

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