AC Milan – Slavia Prague : Preview & Prediction
A successful weekend in which they defeated Lazio 1-0 to keep the pressure on second-placed Juventus in Serie A has AC Milan in better shape heading into their UEFA Europa League Round of 16 tie against Slavia Prague. Friday night’s Serie A match allowed coach Stefano Pioli to field his best available team for that game knowing that they would be well rested for when they face this clash, and based on how his team got to this stage, it could be a relief.
That’s because AC Milan haven’t won the first leg of a UEFA knockout tie after the group stage since 2017/18, so they place great importance on the home leg of their opener against Slavia Prague. In the absence of head-to-head history, the Italians could perhaps take inspiration from their unbeaten record against Slavia’s rivals Sparta Prague (G6, E2), while more recently they have won seven of ten official home games (E2, P1) since being eliminated from the Champions League group stage.
Speaking of Sparta Prague, Slavia failed to defeat their city rivals for the second time in five days, this time in a goalless league derby that maintained their four-point deficit to Sparta at the top of the standings. For now, their focus is on their first appearance at this stage of a Europa League since the 2020/21 season, when they reached the quarterfinals and at the same time won the Fortuna Liga title.
But Italy may be the country they least want to visit as they look to secure a first leg advantage. Slavia have made eight official trips to Italy in UEFA competitions, facing seven different clubs, and came away with nothing more than a 1-1 draw against Inter in the 2019/20 Champions League group stage and seven defeats.
Players to watch: Rafael Leão could be the key for Milan after scoring second-half goals in both legs of their tie against Rennes. For the visitors, Mojmír Chytil scored in three consecutive league games in February and was one of four Slavia players to score in two of their six group-stage matches.
Key stat: In Slavia Prague’s last six knockout matches in a UEFA competition following the group stage, both teams have scored and recorded a total of more than 3.5 goals.
AC Milan – Slavia Prague : Betting Tips
AC Milan – Win Odds: 1.85
