The Champions League fixture for the AC Milan team tomorrow will be very important. The Rossoneri have only one point which was against Porto, but they are still believing in their chances to do something meaningful in this stage and why not even grab the qualification to the next phase, as claimed by the boss Stefano Pioli in his press conference earlier today.
Pioli's boys could still qualify indeed despite the three previous losses and the draw. As per MilanNews, Milan can go through if they:
- Win against both Atletico Madrid and Liverpool while on matchday 5 Liverpool beat Porto and if on the last fixture, Atletico Madrid and Porto draw.
- Win against Atlético Madrid (with at least two goals difference in order to have a better goal difference than the Spaniards) and Liverpool while Liverpool win or draw with Porto and Atlético beat Porto.
As for the qualification for the Europa League, it is also difficult. Here are the chances:
Milan qualify to Europa league if they:
- Win versus Atlético Madrid and draw against Liverpool while Porto lose to Liverpool and on the final matchday Porto beat Atletico Madrid (but AC Milan's goal difference must be better than that of the Spaniards).
- Win against Atlético Madrid and Liverpool while Porto lose to Liverpool and on the last day Porto beat Atletico.
As per Milannews.it, "In the event of a potential finish on equal points, Milan can have the better of Atletico (in any case it all depends on tomorrow night's match and the final goal difference) but not on Porto, given that the Portuguese side has the advantage in the head-to-head matches."
In fact, the rule states that "In the event that two (or more) teams have the same number of points, the following criteria will be used to sort out the group ranking in the group stage of the Champions League: Goal difference, then Goals scored. At the end of the group stage, the following criteria will be decisive: 1/ head to head. 2/ Goal difference 3/ Goals scored.
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