Celtic FC - AC Milan MATCH PRESS KIT Celtic Park, Glasgow Wednesday 3 October 2007 - 20.45CET Group D - Matchday 2 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 will be looking to avenge defeat in last season's first knockout round as European champions AC Milan return to Celtic Park on Matchday 2. • While Celtic suffered a 2-0 defeat by FC Shakhtar Donetsk on Matchday 1, Milan took three points from their opener against SL Benfica at the Stadio Guiseppe Meazza. This will be the Italian club's 200th European Champion Clubs' Cup game. • The two sides are preparing for their seventh meeting in European competition. In their six previous games, Celtic have yet to record a win, drawing three games and losing the rest. Of their previous meetings in Glasgow, two have produced 0-0 draws with the other ending in a 1-0 win for Milan. • 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 strike at Celtic Park sent the Rossoneri through and they went on to lift the trophy. • Milan beat Celtic 3-1 when the sides met for a second time at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in the group stage of the 2004/05 competition. The Scottish team very nearly earned a draw as Stanislav Varga equalised Andriy Shevchenko's first-half opener with 16 minutes remaining. However, the Rossoneri struck twice in the closing moments through Filippo Inzaghi (89 minutes) and Andrea Pirlo (90). • The two starting lineups that September 2004 night were: Milan - Dida; Cafu, Nesta, Maldini, Pancaro; Gattuso, Pirlo, Kaká, Seedorf; Shevchenko, Tomasson Celtic - Marshall; Agathe, Varga, Balde, Valgaeren; Petrov, Lennon, Sutton, Thompson; Hartson, Camara • The teams drew 0-0 at Celtic Park in the return fixture, played in the final round of group games - a stalemate that consigned Celtic to fourth place, with Milan top. • The two sides met again last season in the first knockout round, drawing 0-0 in the first leg in Glasgow before Kaká decided the tie with a strike three minutes into extra time in the second leg in Milan. Last updated 02.10.2007 21:04:24CET Match background 1 Celtic FC - AC Milan Wednesday 3 October 2007 - 20.45CET MATCH PRESS KIT Celtic Park, Glasgow • The two starting lineups that March 2007 night were: Milan - Dida; Oddo, Bonera, Maldini, Jankulovski; Gattuso, Ambrosini, Pirlo, Kaká, Seedorf; Inzaghi Celtic - Boruc; Telfer, McManus, O'Dea, Naylor; Lennon, McGeady, Sno, Jarošík, Nakamura; Vennegoor of Hesselink • Celtic have played 15 games against Italian sides, with the most famous of them being Jock Stein's side's 2-1 win against FC Internazionale Milano in the 1966/67 European Cup final. That defeat was avenged in 1971/72 when Celtic suffered semi-final heartache, losing 5-4 on penalties at Celtic Park following two 0-0 draws. • Celtic's overall record against Italian sides reads won four, drawn five and lost six. At home, they have won three, drawn three and lost one. • Milan's overall record in 12 games against Scottish sides reads won seven, drawn three and lost two. In Scotland itself, they have won two, drawn two and lost two. • Celtic's Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink was in the PSV Eindhoven team beaten by Milan in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Milan's Gennaro 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 Pirlo scored twice at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza as an Italy side featuring him, Gattuso and Alberto Gilardino overcame a Scotland side including Celtic's Steven Pressley 2-0 in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier in March 2005. • More recently, on 28 March this year, Italy beat Scotland 2-0 in a UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifier with Luca Toni scoring both goals. Milan's Massimo Oddo and Gennaro Gattuso were in the starting lineup with Andrea Pirlo coming on as a substitute, while Celtic's Paul Hartley and Scott Brown started the game for Scotland and Steven Pressley was an unused substitute. • Massimo Donati faces an early reunion with his former Milan team-mates having joined Celtic from the Italian club for a €4.5m fee in June. The player made just 17 league appearances for Milan after joining the club from Atalanta BC in 2001, spending much of his spell with the club on loan to other Serie A sides. • Milan goalkeeper Dida celebrates his 34th birthday on 7 October. Three Celtic players have birthdays in the following days: Dianbobo Baldé turns 32 on the 5th, Stephen Pressley is 34 on the 11th and Paul Hartley is 31 on the 19th. • Celtic earned a place in the third qualifying round as Scottish champions, reaching the group stage with a win against FC Spartak Moskva. Milan finished fourth in Serie A but qualified for the group stage as last season's UEFA Champions League winners. • Milan are at home against Shakhtar on Matchday 3 while on the same evening, 24 October, Celtic visit Benfica. Match facts Celtic • Ten Celtic players have appeared in all three UEFA Champions League games so far this season, including qualifying: Lee Naylor, Gary Caldwell, Mark Wilson, Stephen McManus, Scott Brown, Massimo Donati, Shunsuke Nakamura, Aiden McGeady, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Scott McDonald. • Maciej Żurawski's appearance against FC Shakhtar Donetsk was his 50th UEFA club competition match. • Bobo Baldé celebrates his 32nd birthday three days after the Milan game, on 5 October, while Chris Killen is 26 three days later. Last updated 02.10.2007 21:04:24CET Match facts 2 Celtic FC - AC Milan Wednesday 3 October 2007 - 20.45CET MATCH PRESS KIT Celtic Park, Glasgow • A McDonald hat-trick gave Celtic a 3-0 win at home to Dundee United FC on Saturday to send the champions back to the top of the Scottish Premier League. The Australian striker opened the scoring after six minutes before securing the match ball with strikes in the 66th and 71st minutes. • "We emphasised that it could have been a long day today against a well-organised side with the best defensive record in the country," said Strachan. "To score so early took the players by surprise and they relaxed a bit. We had a word at half-time and got that urgency back." • McDonald's hat-trick was the 32nd scored by Celtic since the Scottish Premier League was inaugurated in 1998 – more than any other club. • McDonald, whose three goals came with his right foot, left foot and a header, said: "This was my first senior hat-trick, so it's something special I will treasure for the rest of my life. I'll get all the boys to sign the ball and put it somewhere everyone can see it in my house. I'm full of confidence but to score a hat-trick going into the Milan game is obviously a bonus." • Jean-Jöel Perrier-Doumbé returned to the starting lineup after recovering from a back injury but Nakamura and Wilson missed out again. Vennegoor of Hesselink was forced off with a hamstring injury before half-time and asked if he thought the Netherlands striker might recover in time to face Milan, Strachan said: "It doesn't look good although he has an outside chance of making the game. His hamstring went just as he was taking a shot." • Nakamura told uefa.com he is still struggling to shake off a knee injury picked up against Shakhtar on Matchday 1. "It's borderline whether I play against Milan," he admitted. • Wilson is to travel to Colorado to consult renowned specialist Dr Richard Steadman on the injury to his right knee. "Mark will be going to Dr Steadman's for a check-up," confirmed Strachan. "But there's no doubt whatsoever he will come back and play in many more Champions League games." • Steven Pressley is recovering from a back operation and is not expected to be fit until November. • With Rangers FC dropping two points earlier in the day, the Dundee United win meant Celtic return to the top of the table on goal difference. • Former United Kingdom defence secretary Dr John Reid has replaced Brian Quinn as Celtic chairman. A lifelong fan, Reid joined the board as independent non-executive director and chairman-elect from Monday. • "Like every schoolboy who supported Celtic, I always dreamed of pulling on the hoops and scoring at Celtic Park," said the 60-year-old Reid. "I never made it as a player, but this is certainly the next best thing." • Asked about the highlight of his seven-and-a-half year tenure as chairman, Quinn said: "It was when I was in the bowels of the stand in Seville before the [2003 UEFA Cup] final [against FC Porto] and I went upstairs to have a look at the ground. I heard the Celtic supporters singing all the anthems and there was a great big lump in my throat." • Celtic triumphed 2-1 at Dundee FC in the Scottish League Cup third round on 26 September with goals in each half from McDonald and Vennegoor of Hesselink. Derek Riordan's second-half penalty was saved by Craig Samson.