AC Milan vs Dinamo Zagreb

Thursday’s Champions League action gets underway at the Stadio San Siro as AC Milan and Dinamo Zagreb meet for the fifth time in European football.

Defending Serie A champions battled back to hold RB Salzburg to a 1-1 draw in a curtain-raising Group E fixture and moved on to beat Sampdoria 2-1 in league action despite falling a man down. ‘I Rossoneri’ head into proceedings looking to halt an underwhelming six-game winless streak in the Champions League home matches (D3, L3) and put the club’s worst-ever such run to bed. Stefano Pioli must be enthusiastic about his side’s prospects here, with Milan winning all four previous European meetings with Dinamo, scoring precisely three goals in the last two. What’s more, the Italian heavyweights have won all three home European matches against Croatian visitors and are enjoying a six-match winning streak in competitive outings at San Siro.

In the meantime, visiting Dinamo Zagreb stunned Chelsea 1-0 on matchday one and could win back-to-back Champions League fixtures for the second time in history. However, the perennial Croatian champions have suffered three defeats in their last four Champions League games against Serie A adversaries (W1). Moreover, Dinamo’s away record in the Champions League group stages reads abysmally (W1, D3, L17), including 14 occasions where they were beaten without finding the net. On the bright side, since a 1-0 loss at Bodo/Glimt in the first leg of their Champions League playoff tie, the ‘Blues’ have won consecutive away outings by a single-goal margin, with the winners coming beyond the 65th minute on each occasion.