(Football news) Although Milan has defeated their rivals from the capital in their last nine games and has won both of their Serie A encounters this season, the Giallorossi have a recent history of enduring in Europe.
Milan defeated Slavia Prague in the round of 16, securing a 7-3 aggregate victory by winning both legs with ease. Milan had previously defeated Rennes, who had exited the Champions League after finishing third in the infamous “Group of Death.”
That continued an impressive spell of form for the seven-time European champions, who last week tightened their grip on second place in Serie A by beating Lecce 3-0, thereby posting seven straight wins for the first time since 2006.
Milan have now scored at least once in their last 29 matches across all competitions, notching three goals in three of their last four, and their front line has certainly clicked into gear following a sticky patch during mid-winter.
No fewer than four members of Stefano Pioli’s squad have reached double figures for the season: Olivier Giroud (15) and Christian Pulisic (13) join Rafael Leao (12) and Ruben Loftus-Cheek (10), the latter of whom scored in both legs of the win over Slavia.
It is the first time so many players have scored 10 times or more for the Rossoneri in 15 years, and there can be few doubts that they possess sufficient firepower to challenge on two fronts over the concluding part of this season.
While city rivals Inter Milan seem to have the Scudetto wrapped up, leading by 14 points with just seven games left to play, Pioli’s men will still want to beat Juventus to finish runners-up and, more importantly, win the club’s first Europa League.
Proving particularly tough to beat on home turf, Milan’s record of 11 wins and just two losses from 15 Serie A contests is an impressive one, and they are on a 10-match streak without defeat at San Siro ahead of Roma’s arrival.
While Milan reached the Champions League semis last season, before suffering a painful exit to Inter, Roma’s recent runs to two UEFA finals have captured the imagination in Italy’s Eternal City.
Having beaten Feyenoord to win the inaugural Europa Conference League in 2022, last year’s loss to Sevilla in the Europa League decider was hard to take, and the latter result perhaps signalled the beginning of the end for former boss Jose Mourinho.
Under new coach Daniele De Rossi, who is back at his beloved club until the end of the season, Roma have proved a different proposition to the team beaten by Milan and arch-rivals Lazio at the bitter end of Mourinho’s reign, having since lost just twice in 15 games.
There have been some 10 wins to celebrate following De Rossi’s return, including Saturday’s Derby della Capitale revenge mission against Lazio, which was decided by Gianluca Mancini’s first-half goal.
Now occupying fifth place in the Serie A standings, Roma are eyeing Champions League football for next term, though they could alternatively secure a seat at Europe’s top table by winning the Europa League final in Dublin.
The Giallorossi have only triumphed in two of their previous 14 away games in European play, and they have not won any of their previous eight knockout round games, despite their surprising demolition of Brighton & Hove Albion in the last 16.
In addition, Roma, who lost an all-Italian UEFA Cup final to Inter in 1991, has found it difficult to overcome Thursday’s hosts. They have only triumphed in one of their previous 13 meetings with Milan, which included a 3-1 loss at San Siro in January. This is Roma’s worst losing streak against the Rossoneri in over 40 years.
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