In the early stages of the Serie A season, AC Milan have stood out as the of the most promising teams in the Italian top-flight. The Rossoneri go into Thursday evening’s Europa League against Sparta Prague on the back of their first setback of the campaign.
On Monday night, Roma held Stefan Pioli’s team to a 3-3 draw in a highly entertaining encounter at the San Siro. The draw will be seen as just a slight blip for the men from Milan.
Before the draw with the Giallorossi, the home side kicked off their Group H campaign in the Europa League with a 3-1 win at reigning Scottish champions Celtic.
The victory over the Hoops means that Milan are unbeaten in four Europa League games, having recorded three wins over 90 minutes. The other game finished in the run finished with a 2-2 draw against Rio Ave of Portugal, which Milan won on penalty kicks.
The home side will once again look to evergreen striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic to provide their goals. The 39-year-old has scored once in two Europa League appearances this season. However, it’s the veteran’s six goals in his three league appearances that have caught the imagination of the fans of late.
Sparta Prague are in their seemingly perennial position of the top of the Czech top-flight table after another strong start to their domestic campaign. The visitors may be top dogs in their homeland, but they started their Europa League campaign with a 4-1 home defeat by French outfit Lille.
The defeat may not have come as much of a surprise, as Sparta Prague have a poor recent record in European football’s secondary competition. The club from the Czech capital has now won just one of their previous ten games in the competition.