Milan-Newcastle is a match valid for the first day of the group stage of the Champions League and is played on Tuesday at 6:45 pm: tv, formations, predictions.
When you start from the third bracket, you can’t usually expect a soft draw. But Lady Luck seemed to have turned her back on Milan when the shell containing the Rossoneri’s name was drawn from the Nyon urn last August 31.
Selected in what is, for all intents and purposes, the iron round of the Champions League edition about to open. Ironically, Stefano Pioli’s men will face two great exes, Gigio Donnarumma and Sandro Tonali, who at different times – and especially eliciting different reactions – have left Milanello, settling at Psg and Newcastle respectively. The other team the Diavolo will have to contend with is the always fearsome Borussia Dortmund. Therefore, in order to win one of the top two spots, it will be crucial not to commit even one misstep, which could cost them dearly. The Rossoneri in the opener will receive the visit of Tonali’s Magpies: the midfielder immediately rejoins his old club after the painful sale last June for about 70 million euros, thanks to which, however, the management was able to revolutionize the squad.
Forth former Tonali for the Rossoneri
The Champions League comes at a particular time for the rossoneri: last Saturday they were humiliated in the derby by Inter Milan. A 5-1 difficult to digest and dampening the enthusiasm for the three consecutive league victories (Bologna, Torino and Roma).
Wilson
Brusco awakening for Calabria and his teammates, who for the fifth time in a row, in 2023, surrendered to the hated cousins, who had also prevailed in the two semifinals of the last Champions League. With Newcastle, it is an unprecedented challenge: the Bianconeri had not played this competition for about two decades, but their rise to the top of English soccer since the club’s acquisition by the Saudi fund Pif has been sudden. Their start to the season, at any rate, has not been brilliant. They debuted with a crushing 5-1 win at Aston Villa, but thereafter came three defeats in a row. Eddie Howe’s team only lifted its head at the weekend, bending hostile Brentford 1-0 thanks to a penalty kick scored by Wilson. Compared to the challenge with Inter, Pioli rejoins Tomori in defense, disqualified against the Nerazzurri, and in the attacking trident Chukwueze should play in place of Pulisic. There will be the great former Tonali, who has recovered from the injury suffered in the national team and which forced him to miss the match with Brentford.
The prediction
It would be very important for Milan to get off on the right foot in such a complicated round. The debacle with Inter, however, is a difficult wound for the Rossoneri to heal in a short time. Experience is on their side even though Newcastle, although they have rarely shined with the big boys in the last two years, have the weapons to hurt them. The Englishmen’s defense, however, no longer looks as airtight as it did last year: only with Brentford did it remain inviolate. Milan slightly favored in a match of at least two goals overall.
The probable formations of Milan-Newcastle
- MILAN (4-3-3): Maignan; Calabria, Thiaw, Tomori, Hernandez; Loftus-Cheek, Krunic, Reijnders; Chukwueze, Giroud, Leao.
- NEWCASTLE (4-3-3): Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Joelinton; Almiron, Isak, Gordon.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
