Overview
AC Milan experienced a disappointing end of last season when they lost 6 of the last 10 matches in Serie A. This achievement seriously affected their chances of winning a Champions League spot and forced the club's leadership to quickly make changes.
After Max Allegri's second term ended after only one year, Ruben Amorim was appointed with the task of reviving Milan. His team still maintains an unbeaten record from the beginning of the season.
After two victories against Torino and Venezia, Milan were held to draws by Juventus and Lazio in Serie A respectively. If Juventus had to wait until the last minutes to find an equalizer in Turin, Milan showed their bravery when Lazio was 2 goals behind but still won 1 point in Rome.
Milan is aiming for the possibility of returning to the European arena since being eliminated in the Champions League play-offs in the 2024-2025 season.
For Amorim, this is also a remarkable return as Benfica is the old club he was attached to for 9 years as a player. In his position as coach of Sporting Lisbon, Amorim often has good results in matches against Benfica.
Head-to-head history is also not on Benfica's side. The Portuguese team has never defeated Milan after 6 official encounters, including 2 European C1 Cup finals in 1963 and 1990.
Similar to Milan, Benfica also went through a season that did not meet expectations when they only finished third in Primeira Liga under Jose Mourinho.
Marco Silva was appointed to replace Mourinho and had to start the new era with the Europa League qualifying journey. Benfica unexpectedly lost to St. Gallen in the first leg, but quickly corrected their mistakes with a 5-0 victory in the second leg.
After that, Benfica successively defeated Hearts with a total score of 7-2 and AGF with a total score of 6-2 to win the right to participate in the group stage.
Since then, Benfica has shown impressive form in the domestic arena. This team has won all 4 recent matches and scored 12 goals. In the recent match, Benfica came back in the final minutes to defeat Gil Vicente 3-1 at home, thereby increasing their winning streak in all competitions to 7.
With a rising spirit, Benfica will face two consecutive difficult away games. After the trip to Milan, Marco Silva's team will continue to be guests at Porto's stadium.
Personnel situation
Ruben Amorim may rotate the squad, but AC Milan is likely still loyal to the familiar 3-4-2-1 formation.
The home team does not have too many personnel problems as Mattia Gabbia and Mario Gila have both recovered from minor injuries and were named in the squad to play against Lazio.
On Benfica's side, Alexander Bah continues to be absent due to shoulder injury. Daniel Banjaqui or captain Fredrik Aursnes are likely to be placed in the right-back position.
Expected lineup:
AC Milan: Maignan, De Winter, Gabbia, Pavlovic, Chukwueze, Modric, Musah, Moreira, Pulisic, Cisse, Ramos.
Soares, Aursnes, Araujo, Lenglet, Dahl, Palhinha, Barreiro, Silva, Prestianni, Schjelderup, Pavlidis.
The match between AC Milan and Benfica takes place at 2:00 AM on September 17 (Vietnam time).
