After their embarrassing exit from the Champions League, AC Milan will turn their attention to Serie A, where they are fighting for a top-four finish.
The Red and Blacks were beaten 1-0 by their city rivals Inter Milan at the San Siro on Tuesday, confirming their exit from the UEFA Champions League. Not even the return of Rafael Leao, who started the game on Tuesday after an injury return, could save Milan from a 3-0 aggregate score.
The Portuguese could not also inspire Milan’s attack to score, with their blank on Tuesday the third time in a row they have failed to score, having lost 2-0 to Spezia in their last game.
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Falling to Spezia has left them four points behind the top four, with an increasingly tricky three-game battle on their hands to return to the Champions League next term. Under pressure, manager Stefano Pioli won’t be taking anything for granted as he prepares his side to host already-relegated Sampdoria.
But the hosts have sometimes found sides in the bottom half going into this round hard to put away at the San Siro this term (W4, D3, L1), although they’re at least unbeaten here in the league since late January (W4, D3).
Meanwhile, having already been relegated, Sampdoria come into this game looking to record their first Serie A win since March 19th (D3, L5).
They were held to a 1-1 draw with Empoli on Monday night, leaving them trailing 19th-placed Cremonese by six points. Therefore, Dejan Stanković’s side now look on course to finish bottom of the top flight for the first time in their history.
Their away form has been the primary catalyst for their poor league form, as the visitors have scored just once across their last four Serie A road fixtures (D1, L3). They also lost 3-0 at the San Siro against Inter in October.
Meanwhile, they haven’t beaten Milan here since February 2017 (D2, L3), so another difficult away day looms for La Samp.
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