A very poor start in league will see out Milan all the way back to San Siro, as they are facing Swiss Champions, FC Zurich, to the second round of the Champions League group stage.

Mid-table AC Milan maybe beat Olympique de Marseille in the first round, but the story is much different now, as the pressure is very big over the Rossoneri, especially after the surprising goalless draw against new promoted Bari in league, at San Siro.

Since that night at Siena, when Pato and Ronaldinho showed perfect play, the hopes just fall apart, as the fans do not really expect their team to overpower Zurich on Wednesday night, despite the balance of power is quite big.

AC Milan 0 – 0 A.S. Bari, Superb Storari Rescues Milan From A Defeat

While the full-backs have been doing a lousy job, and the strikers didn’t score in league since those two of Pato back then, Milan are not seem the team that can win the Serie A, and the CL is not a question.

There is no tranquilly in Leonardo’s team, despite Leo stays cool and claim that the club do deserve to any criticism they get. Massimo Ambrosini claims the criticism will motivate them, but first, the real power should come out by them!

Nevertheless, the record of il Diavolo against the Swiss side is good, as they have never lost to them. In fact, last year in UEFA Cup’s first round, Milan ran out 4-1 winners over the two legs.

Daniele Bonera, who is not registered for the Champions League this year, Davide Di Gennaro, Christian Abbiati, Marco Borriello and Thiago Silva are all still sidelined, despite the goalkeeper is back to full training.

Milan have been hardly score goals, and that’s the biggest problem of the Rossoneri. Since the wedding, Pato does not strike, while Klaas-Jan Huntelaar has yet to score his first. Pippo, like Pippo misses a lot, and Ronaldinho is just bad.

What Leonardo is going to do, well, we’ll know only when the match will be underway…

Not only Milan have opened this league badly, also Zurich don’t have the best start. Since the harsh 5-2 defeat against Real Madrid, Fussballclub Zürich thrashed third-tier Witikon in the Swiss Cup, but continued the poor run of form in the Swiss Super League.

The Swiss champions have conceded 20 goals in the Super League so far, only two teams, who are in the relegation zone by the way, have conceded more than they have. Basing on the fact they have won the league three times out of four, Zurich do not look very well thus far.

The record of the Swiss side against Italian teams is not quite well, as they were defeated by Roma in 1998-99 UEFA Cup, and even lost to Serie B side Empoli last year, despite overpowered them at home.

Despite this fact, records can always be broken, as FC Zurich wouldn’t give respect to their host, despite the Italian giants won this trophy seven times, while this is the club’s first year in this tournament.

At the Swiss side, Eric Hassli suffered a broken leg in training last week, but Daniel Stucki and Heinz Barmettler have returned from long-term injuries.

PREDICTION

The situation is somewhat similar to what it was also against Marseille. However, Milan can do it again, despite they ‘lack the final spark’, according to Leonardo. It this stage, when Zurich find it hard not to conceded, Milan will probably take the three points.

AC Milan 2 – FC Zurich 0

By Meytar Zeevi, Rossoneri Blog