AC Milan vs Crvena zvezda prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – League phase betting tips on match 2024-12-10 20:00.
[p]AC Milan ended matchday five of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) league phase just inside the top 16 (W3, L2) after winning their last three European matches while scoring exactly three times in each fixture. They could only score once against Atalanta on Friday as they fell to a 2-1 defeat, after which manager Paulo Fonseca accused the referee of showing a lack of respect towards Milan after he felt a number of recent decisions have gone against his side.[/p]
[p]A return to Europe to take on Red Star Belgrade, against whom they are unbeaten (W2, D4), might therefore be a welcome distraction from their underwhelming Serie A campaign as the Rossoneri look to win four consecutive UCL games for the first time since 2005 when they reached the final. But they might not have things all their own way as their European form at the San Siro has been patchy of late (W2, L2).[/p]
[p]Red Star are languishing in the bottom quarter of the standings and running out of time to qualify for the knockouts (W1, L4) but matchday five saw them finally end their 14-match winless streak in this competition proper (D1, L13) in style by hammering Stuttgart 5-1. They’ve won their three league games since, including another goalfest on Saturday when they put six past Tekstilac Odžaci without reply.[/p]
[p]Although they won the European Cup in Bari in 1991, Italy has otherwise not been kind to the Red-Whites as they’ve won just one of their 14 European away games in the country (D4, L9)! Just as ominously, they’ve lost all 11 prior UCL group/league phase games on the road while conceding an average of 3.67 goals per game in European away games this season (L3).[/p]
[p]Players to watch: Milan’s Rafael Leão has three goal contributions across his last four appearances (G2, A1) including a goal against Slovan Bratislava on matchday five and no Milan player has more goal contributions (G5, A4) in Europe since the start of last term. Aleksandar Katai has scored between half-time and the 65th minute in two of Red Star’s last three games.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Seven of Milan’s last eight UCL games saw both teams score.[/p]
[p][i]Written by John Pennington[/i][/p]