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December 4, 2012 7:45 PM GMT
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza — Milano
Referee:‬ T. Chapron‎
Attendance:‬ 29508‎
 
 
Danny 35′

AC Milan - Zenit St Petersburg Preview: Qualified Rossoneri set to rotate

The Italians booked their place in the last 16 in their fifth outing of Group C, and could take the opportunity to rest some players against the eliminated Russians

By Daniel Edwards

El Shaarawy & Boateng - Milan
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  PROBABLE LINEUPS

MILAN

Amelia
Zapata, Yepes, Acerbi, De Sciglio
Flamini, Ambrosini, Nocerino
Boateng, Bojan, Emanuelson
ZENIT
Porto
Malafeev
Anyukov, Hubocan, Lombaerts, Criscito
Fayzulin, Shirokov, Witsel
Bystrov, Kerzhakov, Hulk

With his team already assured of second place in Group C and a spot in the knockout stages, Massimiliano Allegri has the luxury of being able to rotate his squad for Tuesday's meeting with Zenit St Petersburg.

Stephan El Shaarawy is one player who looks set for a rest as Bojan Krkic prepares himself for a start, while Mathieu Flamini and Massimo Ambrosini could make an appearance in midfield and replace first choice pairing Nigel de Jong and Riccardo Montolivo.

Fighting for pride having been eliminated from Europe's premier club competition, Luciano Spalletti will bring an attacking team back to his native Italy.

Brazil international Hulk is expected to feature in a three-man forward line, alongside Aleksandr Kerzhakov and Aleksandr Bukharov. Striker Vladimir Bystrov is suspended after being shown the red card against Malaga.

  DID YOU KNOW?
  • Milan need just one goal in the next match to reach the landmark figure of 400 in the Champions League, having scored an impressive 399 in the tournament including its previous incarnation as the European Cup.
  • Massimiliano Allegri's side have qualified from Group C. They cannot, however, catch Malaga who hold a three point cushion as well as a better head-to-head record over the Italians.
  • The Rossoneri took on Tuesday's rivals in Saint Petersburg in the second round of fixtures, where they squandered a two-goal lead before finally recording a 3-2 victory.
  • Milan are yet to win at home in the 2012-13 Champions League, having previously been held to draws against Malaga and Anderlecht.
  • Zenit have no mathematical chance of making the next round of the Champions League, but need a win to be sure of entering the Europa League.
  • Their last outing in the competition saw them come back from 2-0 down to rescue a draw at home to Malaga, although only a win would have been enough to keep their hopes of qualification alive.
  • Domestically, the reigning Russian Premier League champions currently lay third in the table, three points behind joint leaders Anzhi Makhachkala and CSKA Moscow.
  • Coach Luciano Spalletti is the third consecutive foreign-born trainer to occupy the Zenit hotseat, and has been in charge since December 2009.


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Head to Head
UEFA Champions League ‎(UCL)‎ Dec 4, 2012 Milan 0 - Zenit 1
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UEFA Champions League ‎(UCL)‎ Oct 3, 2012 Zenit 2 - Milan 3
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Last Five Matches
Milan
May 19, 2013Siena 1 - Milan 2ITA1
May 12, 2013Milan 0 - Roma 0ITA1
May 8, 2013Pescara 0 - Milan 4ITA1
May 5, 2013Milan 1 - Torino 0ITA1
Apr 28, 2013Milan 4 - Catania 2ITA1
Zenit
May 26, 2013Amkar 0 - Zenit 0RUS1
May 19, 2013Zenit 3 - Volga Nizhny Novgorod 1RUS1
May 12, 2013Rostov 1 - Zenit 1RUS1
May 4, 2013Zenit 4 - Alania Vladikavkaz 0RUS1
Apr 28, 2013Kuban 2 - Zenit 2RUS1
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Available Squads
32Christian AbbiatiGoalkeeper
2Mattia De SciglioDefender
15Francesco AcerbiDefender
-Djamel MesbahMidfielder
17Cristian ZapataDefender
10Kevin-Prince BoatengMidfielder
16Mathieu FlaminiMidfielder
23Massimo AmbrosiniMidfielder
8Urby EmanuelsonMidfielder
11Giampaolo PazziniStriker
22Bojan KrkicStriker
59GabrielGoalkeeper
76Mario Alberto YepesDefender
8Antonio NocerinoMidfielder
34Nigel De JongMidfielder
7RobinhoStriker
92Stephan El ShaarawyStriker
-Andrea PetagnaStriker
16Vyacheslav MalafeevGoalkeeper
2Alexander AnyukovDefender
-Bruno AlvesDefender
6Nicolas LombaertsDefender
14Tomás HubocanDefender
10DannyMidfielder
15Roman ShirokovDefender
25Sergey SemakMidfielder
27Igor DenisovMidfielder
28Axel WitselMidfielder
29HulkStriker
71Egor BaburinGoalkeeper
-Ilya ZuevMidfielder
-Michael LumbDefender
18Konstantin ZyryanovMidfielder
-Aleksey EvstafeevMidfielder
77Luka ĐorđevićStriker
99Maxim KanunnikovStriker
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