[han2503]

Milan - Lille

Group stage - Matchday 6 - 2006/2007

Wednesday 6th of December 2006

Time: 20:45 (Italian Time) 19:45 (UK Time)

[misha]

LOSC Lille Métropole coach Claude Puel insists his side must come away from San Siro with "no regrets" on Wednesday night ahead of their deciding Group H match against AC Milan.

Tall order
The visitors have not made life easy for themselves; their 2-2 home draw with RSC Anderlecht on Matchday 5, coupled with Milan's surprise loss to AEK Athens FC the same night, means they must better AEK's result in Brussels to reach the knockout stages for the first time. Puel, however, knows full well that inflicting a defeat upon the six-time European champions will be no small task, even if the hosts are assured of progress as group winners.

European focus
"Milan have focused all their efforts on a successful UEFA Champions League campaign," he said. "After a poor start to their domestic season they have turned their form around in this competition. They may have lost at AEK but they deserved to win and they will want to prove a point by returning to their high standards in front of their own fans. There is no point in us trying to play for a draw - we're improving every year and have already achieved our target in this competition, but we'll give it our all. We will try our best, make sure we have no regrets and, after that, what will be will be."

Spirited comeback
Lille will be boosted by their spirited comeback at in-form AS Nancy-Lorraine at the weekend that brought a 3-1 Ligue 1 victory, although against Milan the visitors will be without first-choice goalkeeper Tony Sylva, who has undergone a hand operation, and midfielder Stéphane Dumont (knee). On a brighter note, captain Grégory Tafforeau is confident of shaking off his ankle problem.

'Winning ways'
Milan should have the support of a bumper crowd after cutting ticket prices to €1 and their coach Carlo Ancelotti is looking to shake off his side's 1-0 reverse in Athens, not to mention Sunday's 2-2 draw at Cagliari Calcio which has left them 15th in Serie A. "We want three points because first, we want to get back to winning ways and second, out of respect for this competition and the other teams who are trying to finish in second place."

Primary aim
"Every year our main objective is to go as far as possible in the UEFA Champions League," he added. "For some reason we've always started well and this year we've come first in our section again. Since I've been here we've won it, reached the last eight, got to the final and last year we made the semi-finals. I don't know what the secret is. But just because we have already qualified for the next stage doesn't mean we're going to let up."

Primary aim
Marco Borriello scored against Cagliari and is in contention to start but a catalogue of injuries has deprived Ancelotti of Dida, Alessandro Nesta, Serginho and Gennaro Gattuso. They will be replaced by Zeljko Kalac, Marek Jankulovski and Dario Å imić, while Massimo Ambrosini and Kaká are available after injury and Milan captain Paolo Maldini is poised to become only the fifth player to feature in 100 UEFA Champions League matches.

Probable teams
Milan: Zeljko Kalac; Daniele Bonera, Dario Å imić, Paolo Madini, Marek Jankulovski; Cristian Brocchi, Andrea Pirlo, Yoann Gourcuff; Kaká; Alberto Gilardino, Marco Borriello.

Lille: Grégory Malicki; Matthieu Chalmé, Nicolas Plestan, Rafael Schmitz, Grégory Tafforeau; Yohan Cabaye, Jean II Makoun; Kader Keita, Mathieu Bodmer, Mathieu Robail; Peter Odemwingie.

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