Preview: AC Milan – Olympique de Marseille, Time To Promise Qualification

AC MILAN host OLYMPIQUE DE MARSEILLE and they must to win in order to make it into the roud of 16 level and maybe even finish in the top of the group. However, OM will make this operation not much easy.

Coming with a streak of five wins, and nine-games unbeaten, the Rossoneri are hosting the fifth match of group C, in the 2009 Champions League, as they aim, to grab the three points against OM, once again.

Marseille are standing on an 6-match unbeaten, but they are only in seventh place in the league, and believing that they still can qualify to the next stage of the CL, already this year, despite Milan & Real Madrid are ahead.

AC Milan 4 – 3 Cagliari Calcio: Samba On The Grass Of San Siro
Coach: We Must Try To Put The Players At Their Best

It wasn’t so shiny like now for the Diavolo this year. Only one month ago, Leonardo was nearly sacked from his position as Milan coach. However, six wins and three draws in the last nine games, kept the Brazilian in helm.

Milan could be eight-time Champions League champions, should they had beaten OM, back in 1993 in Munich. But, they go down by one goal, which sent the Italians very disappointed, and for that, this encounter is also special.

The Rossoneri preformed very well at San Siro on Sunday, when they faced Cagliari. Former Dutch international Clarence Seedorf was on scoresheet as well as Marco Borriello, while Pato and Dinho danced samba, and netted two goals separately.

Milan scored only 18 goals in Serie A, but the attack is now look good, and the main problems are in the defense, that kept Milan only on a +3 goals average, while main rivals Juventus and Inter are on +13 and +21.

Leonardo’s men got the three points away against Marseille this season, but that was a real miracle, or a SuperMiracle, when SuperPippo Inzaghi scored a brace in the narrow 1-2 victory, back in September 15.

The players and the management are well-aware to the fact that a win on Wednesday at San Siro takes them to the next stage of the Champions League version 2009, and for that, they will fight very hard.

The Brazilian coach must think whom he puts in goal, as he already confirmed that all goalkeepers have recovered. Dida played on Sunday, and Marco Storari could take positioning in goal.

Leonardo called-up in the names of these players: Dida, Storari, Antonini, De Vito (n°56 – Primavera), Kaladze, Nesta, Oddo, Thiago Silva, Zambrotta, Abate, Ambrosini, Flamini, Pirlo, Seedorf, Borriello, Di Gennaro, Huntelaar, Inzaghi, Pato, Ronaldinho. Jankulovski, Onyewu and Gattuso are out.

Hopes hang almost at nothing for I’OM. The French side must beat Milan and Real Madrid in order to promise a place in the round of 16 in this year’s Champions League campaign. If they loss or draw against the Rossoneri, all the hopes are going down to no-where.

Marseille surly provide hot-games lately, with an outstanding performance against FC Zurich in the last fixture of the Champions League, when they scored six goals, and in the El Clásico of France, against Olympique Lyonnais one week later.

Despite Milan have the home-advantage, the French outfit had two days rest more than Milan’s, since their match was on Friday, when they beat Paris-Saint Germain 1-0 from a goal scored by Gabriel Heinze, who scored also against Milan.

Didier Deschamps must line-up an attacking, but defensive formation, maybe a 4-3-1-1 in order to prevent Milan to score an early goal like they have recently done in their games.

Milan are just the first task of the Les Phocéens ahead of qualification, which seems very unlikely for them this year, since they must go through Real Madrid in the next and the last fixture of the group stage.

A win versus the Rossoneri could give OM the right momentum, but they will have to win without Stephane Mbia and Julien Rodriguez, who are both suffering from ankle problems. Nevertheless, Lucho Gonzalez has returned.

By Meytar Zeevi, Rossoneri Blog