Unhappy hunting ground for Austrian sides: All the key stats ahead of Milan vs. RB Salzburg | OneFootball

AC Milan head into tonight’s game against Red Bull Salzburg at a sold out San Siro knowing avoiding defeat will be enough to see them reach the Champions League knockout stages.

It will not be an easy game against a Salzburg side that play very intense football and have been dominant domestically for some time. You can read our pre-match preview here, while below are the best stats ahead of the contest…

➤ Milan are unbeaten in all three of their meetings with RB Salzburg in European competition (W2 D1), with all three of those games coming in the UEFA Champions League. They did draw in this season’s reverse fixture (1-1), however, after winning the first two.

➤ This will be RB Salzburg’s second away trip to face Milan in the UEFA Champions League. The previous one was a 0-3 defeat in September 1994, with Marco Simone netting a second half brace for the home side.

➤ Milan have only lost one of their 12 matches against Austrian sides in all European competitions (W8 D3), going unbeaten in each of their last eight such fixtures (W6 D2).

➤ On home soil, Milan have yet to lose against Austrian opposition in Europe (W4 D1), scoring 19 goals in five matches (3.8 per game).

➤ Last time out, Milan scored four goals in a UEFA Champions League match for the first time since beating Arsenal 4-0 at home in the last 16 in February 2012 — they haven’t scored 4+ goals in consecutive matches in the competition since March 2004, winning 4-1 versus Sparta Prague and 4-1 against Deportivo de La Coruna.

➤ In their 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on MD5, FC Red Bull Salzburg registered a passing accuracy of exactly 50%, completing just 115 of their 230 passes. Since 2003-04, that’s the second-lowest accuracy in a UEFA Champions League match, ahead only of CFR Cluj’s 30.1 % against Galatasaray in October 2012.

➤ FC Red Bull Salzburg are aiming to reach the UEFA Champions League knockout stages for the second consecutive season (also 2021-22), having failed to progress past the group stage in any of their three previous campaigns in the competition.

➤ Milan have won two of their last four UEFA Champions League matches (L2) and are looking to register consecutive wins in the competition for the first time since October 2011. However, Milan have conceded in each of their last six home games in the UEFA Champions League — they last had a longer such run in November 2002 (15 games).

➤ All 15 of FC Red Bull Salzburg’s UEFA Champions League goals under Matthias Jaissle have been scored by players aged 23 or younger. Indeed, FC Red Bull Salzburg have had the youngest starting XI on average in the UEFA Champions League (22y 279d).

➤ Milan have scored eight goals in this season’s UEFA Champions League — they last scored more in a single group stage campaign in the competition in 2011-12 (11), while they last won three or more games in 2007-08 (4).

➤ Last time out, Milan’s Olivier Giroud scored his 20th goal in the UEFA Champions League. Aged 36 years and 25 days, Giroud became the oldest player in the UEFA Champions League history to reach 20 goals. The Frenchman is looking to score in consecutive appearances in the competition for the first time since December 2020 while playing for Chelsea.

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