After causing a seismic shock in the Champions League's opening week, Dinamo Zagreb target another major scalp on Wednesday, as they meet AC Milan at San Siro.
An apparently wide open Group E - even more so following Dinamo's triumph over Chelsea and Milan's draw in Salzburg - continues with the hosts having secured victory with 10 men at the weekend; the visitors arrive in Italy on the back of six straight wins.
Match preview
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Following a sorry group-stage exit upon their long-awaited Champions League return last year, Milan kicked off their latest quest for an eighth European title last week as Italian champions.
Having pipped arch-rivals Inter to the Scudetto in May, the Rossoneri finally shook off years of failure, and are now eager to translate domestic success onto the continental stage - however, they found themselves held to a 1-1 draw by RB Salzburg after a close-fought encounter in Austria.
In Serie A, though, Stefano Pioli's men have enjoyed back-to-back wins over the past fortnight, as they followed derby day victory against Inter with a gritty comeback away to Sampdoria on Saturday night.
Demonstrating great character, Milan toiled for most of the second half with only 10 men at Stadio Luigi Ferraris, due to star man Rafael Leao receiving a second booking for raising his boot dangerously high.
With their driving force absent from the left flank, veteran striker Olivier Giroud instead stepped up to salvage three points by steering home a penalty and helped his teammates hold on until the final whistle for a 2-1 win.
While Milan now sit third in the Italian top flight - separated only from the summit by goal difference, and set to face first-placed Napoli at the weekend - they return to San Siro aiming to improve an awful home record in the Champions League during the past decade: no wins from six matches there since beating Celtic in 2013.
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Poised to meet Milan for the fifth time in European competition, Dinamo Zagreb have a record of their own which requires significant improvement, as the Croatian club come into Wednesday's game having lost all four previous encounters.
The first meeting between the sides for 22 years, though, sees Dinamo fresh from a famous victory on Group E's opening night, as they downed 2021 European champions Chelsea at Stadion Maksimir last week - the fifth of six wins on the spin for Damir Krznar's side.
Dinamo had just 31.8% of the possession - the lowest of any team who managed to avoid defeat on day one - and managed only the second-fewest shots at goal. However, one of those six efforts, from the boot of Mislav Orsic, proved enough to get them off to a flying start.
Having last featured in the group phase back in 2019, an adventure to the quarter-finals of the 2021-22 Europa League - in which they remained unbeaten in Group K and saw off Tottenham Hotspur in the last 16 - clearly whetted the appetite for subsequent wins over West Ham and Sevilla in last season's competition.
Since claiming their fourth consecutive Croatian championship last term, Dinamo have advanced past Shkupi, Ludogorets and Bodo/Glimt in Champions League qualifying, and after their 1-0 win over HNK Gorica on Saturday, they are top of the HNL table once again.
With a record of eight wins and a draw from their first nine league games, Krznar last saw his team defeated against Glimt in the first leg of the playoffs, and is now looking to steer them to successive Champions League wins for only the second time in the club's history.
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Team News
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Ahead of Wednesday's game, Milan coach Stefano Pioli not only has long-term absentees Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alessandro Florenzi unavailable, but Divock Origi, Rade Krunic and Ante Rebic are also expected to miss out too.
Having added to his deepening squad over the summer, Pioli may therefore be ready to blood new arrivals such as Sergino Dest, who could make his first start for the Rossoneri, and Aster Vranckx.
Meanwhile, Simon Kjaer and Tommaso Pobega are expected to make way for Fikayo Tomori and Ismael Bennacer following the win over Sampdoria, but given a lack of fit alternatives, Olivier Giroud may have to continue his lone role up front. Since scoring four goals from five shots for Chelsea versus Sevilla two years ago, Giroud has managed only one more in 11 subsequent Champions League appearances.
After making a number of changes at the weekend, Dinamo should now name a starting XI similar to that which stunned Chelsea last week, with Bruno Petkovic and Mislav Orsic - who scored the stoppage-time winner against HNK Gorica at the weekend as a substitute - both returning in attack.
Following the latter's winning goal against Chelsea, he has now netted five times in seven Champions League matches and is the visitors' leading scorer in European competition, with 18 goals in 37 appearances.
Elsewhere, experienced pair Josip Drmic and Kevin Theophile-Catherine may be relegated to the bench, as Damir Krznar shifts to a probable three-man central defence.
AC Milan possible starting lineup:
Maignan; Dest, Kalulu, Tomori, Hernandez; Tonali, Bennacer; Saelemaekers, Diaz, Leao; Giroud
Dinamo Zagreb possible starting lineup:
Livakovic; Ristovski, Sutalo, Peric; Misic; Moharrami, Ljubicic, Ademi, Ivanusec, Orsic; Petkovic
We say: AC Milan 2-1 Dinamo Zagreb
As Rafael Leao may feel he has a point to prove before his domestic suspension kicks in for Sunday's clash with Napoli, the talented winger may play an integral role in getting Milan off the mark in Group E.
Victory will not come easily, though, as Dinamo possess several players of the calibre and European experience to score at least once and push the home side close.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
