AC Milan vs Feyenoord facts

AC Milan face fellow former European champions Feyenoord at San Siro in the UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-off second leg facing a one-goal deficit.

Igor Paixão's third-minute strike proved enough for Feyenoord – under interim coach Pascal Bosschaart having parted company with Brian Priske two days previously – to claim victory in Rotterdam on 12 February in what was their first Champions League knockout match.

Previous meetings

1969/70 European Cup second round
Milan 1-0 Feyenoord
Feyenoord 2-0 Milan
Holders Milan scored the only goal of the first leg at San Siro through Néstor Combin but strikes in each half from Wim Jansen and Willem van Hanegem turned the tie in the Dutch side's favour at the Stadion Feijenoord 'De Kuip'.

Feyenoord went on to win Netherlands' first European Cup with a 2-1 extra-time defeat of Celtic at Milan's San Siro home.

Form guide

Milan

Record vs Dutch clubs: W12 D6 L10 F28 A29
Home record vs Dutch clubs: W7 D2 L3

Before the first leg of this tie Milan had not played Eredivisie opponents since drawing 1-1 away and 0-0 at home against Ajax in the 2013/14 Champions League group stage.

The first leg of this tie ended Milan's four-game unbeaten run against Dutch clubs (W1 D3) since a 0-2 home defeat by Ajax on Matchday 6 of the 2010/11 Champions League, although the Rossoneri have managed only two victories in their last 11 matches against Dutch clubs (D5 L4).

Milan's last knockout tie against a team from Netherlands was a 4-1 aggregate success against PSV Eindhoven in the 2013/14 Champions League qualifying play-offs, making their two-legged record versus Dutch clubs W4 L2 with wins in the last four.

A 3-0 win in the second leg of that tie against PSV is Milan's only victory in four games against Dutch visitors (D2 L1) after wins in the previous three.

The seven-time European champions reached the knockout rounds for the first time since 2013/14 in 2022/23, going on to the semi-finals, but last season finished third in their group and eventually lost an all-Italian Europa League quarter-final against Roma.

Milan have won only 14 of their last 40 Champions League games (D9 L17). Beaten 1-3 at home by Liverpool on Matchday 1 before defeating Club Brugge by the same score on Matchday 3, their subsequent defeats of Crvena Zvezda (2-1) and Girona (1-0) have made it ten victories in their last 25 home fixtures, Matchday 1 to final (D7 L8).

Stefano Pioli was replaced in the summer after five years as Milan coach, Paulo Fonseca appointed as his successor before himself making way for Sérgio Conceição in December.

This is the first time Milan have faced an away first-leg deficit in a European tie since the 2006/07 Champions League semi-finals, when they beat Manchester United 5-3 on aggregate (2-3 a, 3-0 h). That made their aggregate record after an away defeat in the first game W7 L6; they have won both ties where the away leg finished 0-1, most recently against Hapoel Tel-Aviv in the 2001/02 UEFA Cup quarter-finals (2-0 h).

Milan's record in six UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W5 L1:
7-6 v Lokomotíva Košice, 1978/79 UEFA Cup first round
4-2 v Crvena Zvezda, 1988/89 European Cup second round
3-2 v Roda JC, 2001/02 UEFA Cup fourth round
3-2 v Juventus, 2002/03 Champions League final
2-3 v Liverpool, 2004/05 Champions League final
9-8 v Rio Ave, 2020/21 Europa League qualifying play-offs

Feyenoord

Record vs Italian clubs: W9 D6 L9 F27 A32
Away record vs Italian clubs: W2 D2 L7

The Dutch side's last three European campaigns have all ended in defeat against Roma – most recently in last season's Europa League knockout phase play-offs (1-1 h, 1-1 a, 2-4 pens).

Feyenoord had lost 4-2 on aggregate to the Italian side in the quarter-finals of the same competition the previous season, and 1-0 in the inaugural Conference League final in Tirana in 2022.

Last season's draw at Roma ended Feyenoord's run of four successive defeats away to Italian clubs – although it extended their winless sequence to seven matches (D2 L5).

Eight of Feyenoord's nine defeats against Italian clubs, including the 2022 Europa Conference League final against Roma, have been outside Netherlands.

Last season's loss to Roma made Feyenoord's aggregate record in two-legged ties against Italian teams W2 L3 with defeats in the last three.

The Rotterdammers are making their seventh appearance in the Champions League proper, appearing in the competition for successive seasons for the first time since 2002/03. This is only the third time they have featured in the last 22 campaigns.

A 3-2 Matchday 2 win at Girona this season was Feyenoord's first in 12 away European games (D4 L7) and ended the Dutch club's run of eight successive away defeats in the Champions League proper.

The 3-1 Matchday 3 victory at Benfica is one of three in Feyenoord's last 17 away Champions League fixtures (D3 L11) and one of only five in the competition proper (D6 L14). They fought back from three goals down to draw 3-3 at Manchester City but went down 6-1 at LOSC Lille on Matchday 8 – equalling their heaviest European defeat.

Feyenoord have won 22 of the 28 previous UEFA ties in which they recorded a home victory in the first leg although they lost the last, against Roma in the 2022/23 Europa League quarter-finals (1-0 h, 1-4 a aet). Their overall aggregate record following a 1-0 home first-leg win is W6 L4.

Feyenoord's record in three UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W2 L1:
5-3 v Sion, 1991/92 European Cup Winners’ Cup second round
5-4 v PSV Eindhoven, 2001/02 UEFA Cup quarter-final
1-4 v Roma, 2023/24 Europa League knockout phase play-off

Links and trivia

Santiago Giménez moved from Feyenoord to Milan during the winter transfer window after 65 goals in 105 games across all competitions for the Dutch club, whom he had joined in July 2022.

Have also played in Netherlands:
Tijjani Reijnders (Zwolle 2016–17, AZ Alkmaar 2017–23)

Have played in Italy:
Dávid Hancko (Fiorentina 2018/19)
Facundo González (Juventus 2023–, Sampdoria 2023/24 loan)

Latest news

Milan

On Saturday a late Santiago Giménez goal earned Milan a 1-0 home win against Verona. The winter signing from Feyenoord is the third Milan player since 1994/95 to score in each of his first two Serie A appearances after Andriy Shevchenko and Christian Pulišić.

Giménez became the first Mexican to score for Milan in Serie A with his goal in a 2-0 win at Empoli on 8 February.

Tijjani Reijnders has scored 11 goals this season – seven in Serie A. His previous best was seven for AZ Alkmaar in 2022/23.

Emerson Royal has not played since being replaced early on against Girona on Matchday 7 due to a calf problem.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek has been out since Matchday 6 with a thigh injury.

Alessandro Florenzi has not played this season due to a knee injury.

Feyenoord

Feyenoord were held 0-0 at NAC Breda on Saturday, making it one win in six Eredivisie matches (D2 L3).

On 10 February Feyenoord announced the departure of coach Brian Priske, with Under-21 boss Pascal Bosschaart named as his temporary replacement the following day.

A 3-0 derby victory against Sparta Rotterdam on 8 February was Feyenoord's first since Matchday 7.

The Rotterdam club's three defeat in their last six Eredivisie matches are as many as in their previous 50 league outings.

Quinten Timber (knee) and Ayase Ueda (hamstring) both sat out Saturday's draw having gone off injured against Milan.

Bart Nieuwkoop and Inbeom Hwang have missed the last two games.

Gernot Trauner has missed the last four games with a knock.

Justin Bijlow has been ruled out for a lengthy period after being forced off in the first half at Lille with a knee injury.

Calvin Stengs has not played since replaced early in the second half on Matchday 7 with a hamstring problem; Ramiz Zerrouki missed that match with a leg injury and has not played since.

Feyenoord have used 34 players in this season's Eredivisie, a new competition record, surpassing the previous mark of 31.