AC MILAN v BORUSSIA DORTMUND: OPPONENT REVIEW

Tuesday is a crucial game for Stefano Pioli’s AC Milan: the Rossoneri are playing for a place in the Champions League Round of 16 in the match against Borussia Dortmund in the penultimate match of the group stages. The final match of the groups is away at Newcastle on 13 December. Route to the Round of 16 still has two more steps but the Diavolo need to win all three points against the Germans who currently sit on top of Group F with seven points, 1 more than PSG in second and 2 more than AC Milan in third. Despite their complicated rank in the group, Calabria and his teammates will be feeling revitalised after the significant victory against the French in the last match. 

Both teams turn up to the Tuesday evening clash (21:00 CET kick-off) fresh off strong victories in their respective leagues, 1-0 against Fiorentina and 4-2 against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The Rossoneri can be confident with their recent record against German opposition: only one defeat in their last 16 home matches (11W, 4D) in European competitions. That being said, the only loss from these 16 games was against Borussia Dortmund (0-1 in the 2002/03 Champions League). 

DORTMUND’S WEAPONS: MIDFIELD DOMINATION AND COUNTER-ATTACKS
It will be a difficult match for Stefano Pioli’s Rossoneri, but by no means will it be impossible. After their defeat to Paris Saint Germain, Borussia Dortmund have figured it out defensively, keeping three consecutive clean sheets (more than any other team in the Champions League this season) for the first time in the group stages since 2020/21; the first of these clean sheets came against AC Milan. Edin Terzić; 's game plan relies heavily on excellent coverage of the central zone of the pitch and a great ability to intercept the opponents’ passing lines. This is proven by the 42 balls won by the Germans over the course of the tournament, fewer than only Galatasaray who have 46. 

This style of play allows the Germans to start quick counter-attacks, having so far completed 13 vertical attacks, meaning sequences of play started in your own area with at least 50% of movement forward and end with a shot or a touch in the opponent’s box: the only teams to have better records are Pioli’s AC Milan (15, level with Real Madrid) and Bayern Munich with 17. A lot of play in midfield, therefore, with a lot of physical strength (the Schwarz-Gelb are second in the competition for tackles completed with 79, after Benfica’s 86), however these often don’t materialise into goals. Dortmund are in fact the third worst team in the tournament for scoring percentage (5%). They are ahead of the Rossoneri however (3%) and at the bottom is Benfica with only 2%. 

HUMMELS IN DEFENCE, MALEN IN ATTACK, TERZIĆ TO MAKE HISTORY
One of Dortmund’s strongholds in defence is Mats Hummels, who has the most combined tackles and interceptions this season in the Champions League: 24 (14+10). In fact, the Schwarz-Gelb defender is one of only three players in the competition with at least 10 tackles and 10 interceptions: Rossonero, Fikayo Tomori and  Abdülkerim Bardakci of Galatasaray are the other two. In the forward’s department, however, Stefano Pioli’s team will have to pay special attention to Donyell Malen, who has already scored five goals for Borussia Dortmund this season in all competitions, however he is goalless in Europe so far. The last goal the Dutch striker scored in the competition, in fact, came on 7 December 2021 against Beşiktaş. And finally, you cannot underestimate Edin Terzić’s desire to write his own chapter into footballing history: with a win, the coach, at the age of 41 years and 29 days, would become the youngest coach to beat AC Milan at San Siro in the Champions League since Pep Guardiola (40 years 309 days) in November 2011 (AC Milan 2-3 Barcelona). 

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