Porto vs AC Milan

Encouraged by a 3-2 comeback Serie A win over Hellas Verona, AC Milan will be looking to get off the mark in the UEFA Champions League when they take on Porto at the Estádio do Dragão.

Following a hard-earned scoreless away draw with Atletico Madrid in their Group B opener, Porto fell to a dreadful 5-1 away defeat to Liverpool last time out and could further derail their hopes of progressing with another underwhelming showing here. However, the Portuguese powerhouse can draw confidence from their three-match unbeaten Champions League streak against Milan (W1, D2), though it’s worth noting that their last such encounter dates back to November 1996. Having lost both of their previous Champions League fixtures on home turf, the ‘Dragons’ stare at the prospect of losing three home games in the competition for the first time in the club’s history. But a return of six clean sheets from their last seven matches in the Champions League group phase (W4, D2, L1) could inspire Porto’s hopes of prevailing here.

In the meantime, Milan wasted a half-time lead in both of their Group B fixtures this term, losing 3-2 to Liverpool at Anfield before falling to a 2-1 home loss to Atletico Madrid last time out. Another failure here could spell an end to their hopes of making it out of the Champions League group stage for the first time since 2013/14. However, history is on their side here, with Milan last losing back-to-back away matches in European football in April 2012. Interestingly, seven of Milan’s eight UEFA-sanctioned trips to Portugal have ended level (W1), qualifying matches included, with their lone success in this run of games coming at the expense of Porto of all teams. Worryingly, though, Stefano Pioli’s men have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last four competitive away encounters (W2, D1, L1).