AC Milan will be aiming to win every trophy they enter this season following a massive spending spree and the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League is no exception. The Italians have started their campaign in the third qualifying round and were pleased to come away from Romania with a 1-0 lead over Universitatea Craiova from the first leg.
AC Milan are known as one of the giants of European football, having won the Champions League 7 times and the Cup Winners’ Cup twice. However, they have been struggling in recent years and have never won the Europa League. Universitatea Craiova reached the semi-final of the 1982/83 UEFA Cup, losing to Benfica. Since then they have failed to get beyond the third round.
AC Milan Form
The Serie A season is yet to start, so the first leg of this match was AC Milan’s first competitive game of the season. The 1-0 win in the away leg was a positive way to begin the new campaign. Many people were watching to see how this new, expensively assemble team of AC Milan would cope in their first match together and while unspectacular, they got the job done and will be hoping to push on this season.
You must go back almost 10 years to find the last time AC Milan were involved in the Europa League but they have a good record. The Italians are undefeated in their last 10 games in the competition. At home, they also unbeaten in their last 10, with 8 wins and 2 draws.
Universitatea Craiova Form
The domestic Romanian league is just 3 games old and Universitatea Craiova find themselves in 6th place, having picked up 1 win and 2 draws.
The defeat to AC Milan in the first leg of this tie is their only defeat of the season to date. You must go all the way back to the qualifying round of the 2000/01 UEFA Cup to find the last time Universitatea Craiova played in the competition and they went out to Pobeda of Macedonia 2-1 on aggregate.
They have won only 1 of their previous 10 away Europa League games, which came at KF Partizani Tirana of Albania in 1990/91.
Team News
AC Milan are almost at full strength and the only absentee is Suso, who has an injury. This will be an opportunity for the new players to introduce themselves to the San Siro crowd and the likes of Leonardo Bonucci, Ricardo Rodriguez, Hakan Calhanoglu and Andre Silva will be hoping to start.
Universitatea Craiova have no injury or suspension concerns and will be at full strength for this match.
Top Betting Tips
With a 1-0 lead from the first leg, AC Milan are in command of this tie and should go on to win the second leg without much difficulty. AC Milan are priced at 1/7 with Ladbrokes to win the game. With a group of new defenders in place, Vincenzo Montella will be hoping his team can keep another clean sheet in this game. They have the talent to do so and AC Milan are 8/11 with Ladbrokes to win the game to nil. AC Milan will be keen to get off to a good start in the first half and will want to impress throughout the 90 minutes in their first home game of the season. You can get 16/13 with Unibet for AC Milan to win both halves.