AC Milan - Celtic FC MATCH PRESS KIT Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan Tuesday 4 December 2007 - 20.45 CET Group D - Matchday 6
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AC Milan - Celtic FC MATCH PRESS KIT Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan Tuesday 4 December 2007 - 20.45 CET Group D - Matchday 6 Contents 1 - Match background 7 - UEFA information 2 - Match facts 8 - Match-by-match lineups 3 - Squad list 9 - Competition facts 4 - Head coach 10 - Team facts 5 - Match officials 11 - Competition information 6 - Domestic information 12 - Legend Match background Celtic FC travel to AC Milan needing just a point to guarantee their progress to the knockout stage of the UEFA Champions League for the second season running. • Gordon Strachan's team moved into second place in Group D, three points ahead of FC Shakhtar Donetsk, thanks to a 2-1 win against the Ukrainian side on Matchday 5. They now need to only avoid defeat against section leaders Milan to render the result of Shakhtar's home game against SL Benfica academic. • If Celtic were to lose, however, Shakhtar could overtake them by beating Benfica. In such a scenario both teams would have nine points and Shakhtar's superior head-to-head record would see them through. • Already assured a place in the first knockout round, Milan sit one point above Celtic and will finish top of the group so long as they do not lose to the Scottish champions. • Milan secured qualification by drawing 1-1 at Benfica last time out. Andrea Pirlo opened the scoring after 15 minutes, but Maxi Pereira drew Benfica level five minutes later. • Carlo Ancelotti's team began the defence of their European title with a 2-1 home win against Benfica on Matchday 1 and achieved subsequent victories at home (4-1) and away (3-0) to Shakhtar on Matchdays 3 and 4. The only blot on their copybook came at Celtic Park on 3 October where Scott McDonald's 89th-minute winner consigned them to a 2-1 defeat following earlier goals by Stephen McManus (61) and Kaká (68). • Celtic's win against Milan brought them their first points following a 2-0 loss at Shakhtar on Matchday 1. After beating the Rossoneri, they lost 1-0 at Benfica but then recorded back-to-back home wins over Benfica (1-0) and Shakhtar (2-1). • Celtic left it late to beat Shakhtar, Massimo Donati's 92nd-minute effort completing their comeback after Jiří Jarošík (45) had cancelled out Brandão's opener (4) for the visitors. • That was Celtic's third home win in Group D but their away record in the UEFA Champions League does not augur well for their visit to Milan: their 15 previous ties in the competition proper (qualifiers excluded) have produced 14 defeats and one draw. Last updated 03.12.2007 13:00:00CET Match background 1 AC Milan - Celtic FC Tuesday 4 December 2007 - 20.45 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan • Celtic progressed to the first knockout round of the restructured UEFA Champions League for the first time in 2006/07. Then as now they went into their final fixture with three home wins and two away defeats – and duly suffered a third loss on Matchday 6, going down 3-1 at FC København. Unlike now, however, they were already assured progress before the game. • Milan and Celtic have met three times before in Italy, most recently in the first knockout round last season. Kaká's solitary strike three minutes into extra time on 7 March earned the Rossoneri a 1-0 aggregate victory. • The teams for that second-leg tie were: Milan: Dida; Massimo Oddo, Paolo Maldini, Daniele Bonera, Marek Jankulovski; Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Massimo Ambrosini, Clarence Seedorf; Kaká; Filippo Inzaghi. Celtic: Artur Boruc; Paul Telfer, Stephen McManus, Darren O'Dea, Lee Naylor; Shunsuke Nakamura, Evander Sno, Neil Lennon, Jiří Jarošík; Aiden McGeady; Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. • Celtic visited Milan for the first time in 1968/69 and came away with a goalless draw from the first leg of their European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-final tie. However, Piero Prati's lone goal at Celtic sent Milan through and they went on to lift the trophy. • Milan beat Celtic 3-1 when the sides met for the second time at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in the 2004/05 group stage. The Scottish team very nearly earned a draw after Stanislav Varga equalised Andriy Shevchenko's first-half opener with 16 minutes remaining. However, Milan struck twice in the closing moments through Inzaghi (89 minutes) and Pirlo (90). • The two starting lineups that September 2004 night were: Milan – Dida; Cafu, Alessandro Nesta, Maldini, Giuseppe Pancaro; Gattuso, Pirlo, Kaká, Seedorf; Shevchenko, Jon Dahl Tomasson. Celtic – David Marshall; Didier Agathe, Varga, Dianbobo Balde, Joos Valgaeren; Stilian Petrov, Lennon, Chris Sutton, Alan Thompson; John Hartson, Henri Camara. • Milan's overall record at home to Scottish opposition is five wins and one draw from six matches. • Celtic have never won in Italy, their previous seven visits bringing two draws and five defeats. • Celtic's most memorable encounters with Italian opponents have come against Milan's neighbours, FC Internazionale Milano. Jock Stein's team beat Inter 2-1 in the 1966/67 European Cup final but in 1971/72 they suffered semi-final heartache, losing 5-4 on penalties at Celtic Park following two 0-0 draws. • Celtic midfielder Donati is a former Milan player. He joined the Rossoneri for €14.9m from Atalanta BC in 2001 but made only 17 Serie A appearances, eleven as a substitute, in the 2001/02 season. Loan spells with Parma FC, Torino FC, UC Sampdoria and FC Messina Peloro and back at Atalanta followed prior to his move to Scotland. • Celtic's Vennegoor of Hesselink was in the PSV Eindhoven team beaten by Milan in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Milan's Gattuso, meanwhile, played in five 'Old Firm' derbies for former club Rangers FC against Celtic in 1997/98 – winning three, drawing one and losing one. • Milan's Ambrosini, Gattuso and Pirlo featured in Italy's 2-1 win against Scotland in a UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying Group B game in Glasgow on 17 November. Celtic's Scott Brown, Paul Hartley and McManus finished on the losing side as the result took Italy and France into next summer's final tournament and ended the home side's challenge. • The two concluding matches in Group D are being played on 4 December, one week before the remaining Matchday 6 fixtures, because as UEFA Champions League holders Milan will represent Europe in the FIFA Club World Cup, which runs from 7 to 16 December in Japan. Last updated 03.12.2007 13:00:00CET Match facts 2 AC Milan - Celtic FC Tuesday 4 December 2007 - 20.45 CET MATCH PRESS KIT Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan Match facts Milan • Filippo Inzaghi is one goal away from becoming the record goalscorer in UEFA club competition after his double against Shakhtar on Matchday 4 took him level with Gerd Müller's record of 62 strikes. • Clarence Seedorf's next UEFA Champions League appearance will be his 100th match in the competition. Only his Milan team-mate Paolo Maldini (107 appearances) plus Raúl González (113), Roberto Carlos (112), David Beckham, Oliver Kahn (both 103) and Luís Figo (100) have reached that landmark. • Kakha Kaladze made his 100th appearance in UEFA club competition against Benfica on Matchday 5, when Dida played his 75th match in Europe. Giuseppe Favalli's next European appearance will also be his 75th. • Andrea Pirlo has provided four assists so far, together with Predrag Djordjević the most in the competition. • Gennaro Gattuso has committed 18 fouls to date, the joint-highest total in the group stage along with Gaby Mudingayi. • Massimo Ambrosini is available again after serving a one-match ban against Benfica having collected three yellow cards in Milan's first four games, while Gattuso is a booking away from suspension. • Milan were denied a first home win in Serie A this season on Saturday night as Juventus earned a goalless draw at San Siro. A David Trezeguet effort for the visitors struck the post early in the first half and Milan goalkeeper Dida was forced to make a fine save to keep out a Hasan Salihamidžić effort shortly after half-time, although Kaká and substitute Inzaghi forced fine stops from Gianluigi Buffon in the closing stages. • Carlo Ancelotti said: "We suffered in the first half because Juventus were fresher than us and we were second to every ball. Then they slowed down their tempo and we started to get the game under control in the second half. We had a few good opportunities and it's difficult to have more than that against Juve, but unfortunately we missed them. However I think we are in good form." • The Milan coach chose to field Massimo Oddo, Kaladze, Alessandro Nesta and Serginho in defence with Gattuso, Ambrosini, Andrea Pirlo and Seedorf starting in midfield and Kaká supporting lone striker Alberto Gilardino. Maldini and Daniele Bonera replaced Oddo and Serginho in the second half and Inzaghi came on for Gilardino. • Marek Jankulovski is still on the sidelines after undergoing knee surgery in October, while Emerson is suffering with a fibula injury and has not played since 24 October. • Ronaldo, who played his first competitive game of the season in the 2-1 win at Cagliari Calcio on 25 November, suffered a calf injury while warming up as he prepared to come on as a substitute against Benfica and missed the Juventus match. "There is no tear in the muscle," said Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani. "Ronaldo should return to normal training next week and should be available for the FIFA Club World Cup although the game against Celtic is probably too soon for him." • Nesta and Gilardino are the only Milan players who have appeared in all 13 league games this season.