Impossible to do better for the story. Real-Milanit’s the match with 22 big-eared cups, 15 for the “White House”, 7 for the “Rossoneri”, their distant runners-up in the prize list. But the two sacred monsters are not at their best.
Real is going through a small crisis after the correction received from FC Barcelona (4-0) in the clasico at Santiago-Bernabeu and its absence criticized around the world at the Ballon d’Or ceremony. In addition, the defending champion is only 12th in the single pool.
Milan, 25th, is not even in the lead after two defeats and a victory and only finds itself 7th in Serie A.
But the poster marked the history of the competition, from the 1958 final won by the Spanish giant (3-2 ap) to the present day, including the two duels won by the great Milan of Arrigo Sacchi and the Dutch at turn of the 1990s.
The team of Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Franck Rijkaard won against Real on their triumphant road to the 1989 and 1990 titles, with a scathing 5-0 at San Siro in the semi-finals in 1990, notably enriched by a goal from… Carlo Ancelotti, today coach of the “Merengues”.
The posters for the 4th day have a Milanese flavor since theInter Milan receives Arsenal. The two clubs started the competition well with seven points each, the “Nerazzurri” are on an ascending phase, back to one point behind leader Naples in Serie A while the “Gunners” are experiencing a big slump, with only one point taken from their last three Premier League matches.
The other English clubs, which monopolize the first three places in the ranking, all have a busy schedule. Liverpool (2nd) receives the Bayer Leverkusen (6th) by Xabi Alonso, who won with the “Reds” the craziest C1 final in history, Liverpool-Milan (3-3, 3 tab to 2) in 2005, where he scored the equalizing goal, on a penalty in two stages, while his team was trailing 3-0.
Only other team with 9 points out of 9 with the Reds, Aston Villasurprise leader of the single pool, is expected to Usedfinalist of the 1978 C1 against Liverpool (1-0). The “Villans”, 1982 European champions, suffered a heavy defeat at Tottenham (4-1).
Manchester City also fell this weekend, at Bournemouth (2-1) and must get back in the saddle against the Sporting Portugal by Viktor Gyökeres, both in great form: the Lisbon club is flying over La Liga with ten victories in ten matches and the Swedish striker has already found the net 20 times, including a quadruple on Friday against Estrela Amadora (5-1).
In the other matches, two recent finalists in difficulty face each other, the PSG (2020), only 19th, and theAtlético Madrid (2014 and 2016), who is currently not even among the 24 qualified for the following rounds.
Antoine Griezmann will return to the Parc des Princes where two months ago he performed a solo lap of honor at the end of the France-Italy match (1-3), which turned out to be a farewell to the French public since He then retired internationally.
The Barça recovered well by stringing together two convincing victories after his unexpected inaugural defeat at Monaco (2-1). The Catalan club travels to Belgrade toRed Starone of the six clubs not to count a single point. And the team coached by Hansi Flick notably took a resounding revenge on his nemesis in C1, the Bayern (4-1), two weeks ago. Munich, just above the waterline (23rd), receives the Benfica (13th) in another prestigious match.
Champions League: Program for the 4th day
Mardi
18h45
Slovan Bratislava (SVK) – Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
PSV Eindhoven (NED) – Gérone (ESP)
21h00
Real Madrid (ESP) – AC Milan (ITA)
Dortmund (GER) – Sturm Graz (AUT)
Lille (FRA) – Juventus Turin (ITA)
Bologna (ITA) – Monaco (FRA)
Liverpool (ENG) – Bayer Leverkusen (GER)
Celtic (SCO) – RB Leipzig (GER)
Sporting Portugal (POR) – Manchester City (ENG)
Wednesday
18h45
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) – Young Boys (SUI)
Club Bruges (BEL) – Aston Villa (ENG)
21h00
Paris SG (FRA) – Atlético Madrid (ESP)
Stuttgart (GER) – Atalanta Bergame (ITA)
Inter Milan (ITA) – Arsenal (ENG)
Feyenoord (NED) – RB Salzburg (AUT)
Red Star Belgrade (SRB) – FC Barcelona (ESP)
Bayern Munich (GER) – Benfica (POR)
Sparta Prague (CZE) – Brest (FRA)
