Champions League: This Milan Derby is So Hot!

AC  Milan vs Inter Milan

Few Champions League fans could have predicted this, but Wednesday night in Milan will see the city’s two giant football clubs competing for a place in the European final.

Neither AC Milan nor Inter were in the leading group, according to the early predictions, but now they are one step away from the final. I Rossoneri saw off the highly fancied Napoli in the quarter-finals while I Nerazzurri came out on top of free-scoring Benfica.

The latest Champions League 2023 betting odds pitch the Milan teams as outsiders, Inter at 7.20 and AC at 7.50 with Manchester City the hot favourites at 1.67 and Real Madrid at 4.20. But despite the markets saying the champions will come from the other match, the Serie A giants have every right to believe this could be their year. Both have won the Scudetto recently and can prepare for this game on the back of great performances.

Milan boss Stefano Pioli has been coming under increasing pressure after a sequence of draws, but his situation was eased as I Rossoneri beat Lazio 2-0 in a pivotal top-four clash on Saturday. Meanwhile Simone Inzaghi’s Inter pulled off an impressive 2-0 win away to another high-flying rival, Roma. Inter are priced at 1.67 to navigate this tie with AC Milan out at SBOTOP odds of 2.21, and we can look forward to two epics. 

Talking Points – The Big Battles

Lautaro Martinez vs Fikayo Tomori 

He’s one of the hottest strikers in European football at the moment and World Cup winner Lautaro Martinez will be a vital player for Inter Milan in this tie. With 19 goals in the Italian league, he is second in the race for the Capocannoniere, three behind Napoli’s Victor Osimhen. Martinez is a dynamic, quick and agile striker, technically gifted and with the ability to score all manner of goals, with either foot, and he is a strong header of the ball.

Rossoneri centre-back Fikayo Tomori is the man who will try to stop Martinez, returning to the side for the victory over Lazio and coming through unscathed. He’s recently made his 100^th appearance for I Rossoneri since his £24m switch from Chelsea and he became a big player in Milan’s Scudetto triumph last season. Tomori has the pace to cope with Martinez and this will be a key tussle.    

Olivier Giroud vs Francesco Acerbi

An injury to Rafael Leao in the 11^th minute of Milan’s victory over Lazio was a blow to Pioli and it is uncertain whether the Portuguese striker will play any part. But the Milan boss can rely on the evergreen Olivier Giroud who, with five goals in the Champions League, is I Rossoneri’s top scorer. The French striker is brilliant in the air and he will meet the challenge of experienced centre-back Francesco Acerbi who, at 6ft 4in, is a powerful figure in the heart of defence, tough tackling and very comfortable on the ball and Acerbi will let Giroud know he is in a game.         

Sandro Tonali vs Marcelo Brozovic

Both teams will battle hard for midfield supremacy and each has a lynchpin who is capable of dominating. AC Milan’s Sandro Tonali is still only 22 years old but he has already picked up 14 caps for Italy and has been likened to legendary midfield stars, Andrea Pirlo and Luka Modric. A cultured player with superb reading of the game, Tonali is the metronome of this Milan side.

He will come up against a tough operator in the form of Inter’s Croatian star Marcelo Brozovic who can play in a deep-lying position or as a driving box-to-box midfielder. Whichever player has the better game will free up space for his strikers.    

History

AC Milan have been champions of Europe seven times, with only Real Madrid winning more Champions Leagues and European Cups. Meanwhile, Inter have won three times.

Inter are in front in the head in the head-to-head results with 30 victories to Milan’s 24, while there have been 19 draws in all competitions since 1993. Inzaghi’s men have come out on top twice already this year, winning 3-0 in the SuperCoppa in January and 1-0 in the league in February.

Both teams are in good form; Milan are unbeaten in nine games while Inter are on a winning run of five.     

Betting Tip

I’ll be back with the Champions League 2023 updates on Wednesday night when I suspect I’ll report on a Manchester City win in Madrid… but this clash does not have a clear favourite. 

Milan are at odds of 2.83 to win the first leg with Inter at 2.27 and I think they may well cancel each other out to leave the tie delicately balanced. In a white-hot atmosphere at the San Siro neither side will want to give an advantage and the most likely score line is a 1-1 draw at odds of 4.84. 

 

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