The UEFA Champions League is back and as the world’s greatest club competition roars into 2023, we spoke exclusively to Bet9ja Ambassador Victor Ikpeba ahead of a huge clash as Italian champions and 7-time European champions AC Milan take on Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur at the San Siro on Tuesday night!
VI: The last 16 draw has thrown up some very interesting ties both this week and next. Tuesday’s games look incredibly interesting with two of Europe’s heavyweights going head-to-head in Paris and two big clubs struggling domestically meeting at in Milan.
AC Milan versus Tottenham is one of the more intriguing games of the round as it pairs together an Italian giant having a very bad run of form winning just two matches since the resumption of club football following the FIFA World Cup in Qatar and a Spurs side that are spectacularly inconsistent.
Consistently Inconsistent
On paper, some will say this tie is a 50/50 call because of AC Milan’s European pedigree even when taking into account their recent poor form and then you consider that Tottenham’s form in any two games is extremely hard to predict. Last week, they had a fantastic victory against Manchester City that was full of grit and determination but then they went to Leicester City at the weekend and got absolutely destroyed 4-1 in a result that probably flattered them!
Maybe people will say that Pep Guardiola’s City side were sloppy defensively in north London but in that performance Spurs showed what they’re capable of and if Milan give the likes of Harry Kane a chance, he will punish them as he did to become Tottenham’s all-time leading goalscorer last Sunday.
With the quality of players Antonio Conte’s side possesses they’ll fancy their chances at getting a result at the San Siro to bring back to England but the loss of Rodrigo Bentancur for the rest of the season due to an ACL injury is a big loss. Conte himself was back on the bench for the defeat at the King Power Stadium and he’ll want to make his return to his homeland a fruitful one and put Saturday’s humiliation behind him.
Misfiring Milan
I Rossoneri may only be outside of Serie A’s Champions League places on goal difference but last season’s champions do not look anywhere near the levels they reached in 2021/22. This isn’t a team short on talent and maybe Friday’s 1-0 win over Torino will boost their confidence, but this is football for you! You can have quality players who are used to winning but poor form is very hard to turn around and it takes times to get back to winning ways.
When it comes to the UEFA Champions League, its a different type of football and both sides will hope that this can be the moment to kickstart a run of consistent good form they can carry over into their domestic leagues but this is a such difficult game to predict.
Historically, AC Milan are clearly the bigger club having won this competition seven times, a record amount for an Italian club and a record only bettered by Real Madrid across the continent but this is their first visit the UEFA Champions League knockout stages since losing to Atletico Madrid in 2013/14 at the last 16 stage.
Tottenham reached the 2018/19 final before losing to Liverpool in the club’s best ever performance in Europe’s top competition but they have only appeared in one knockout tie since then, losing 4-0 on aggregate to RB Leipzig in 2019/20 so how do I see this one going? Truthfully, it’s so close to predict that I cannot make a definitive call but what we do know is that it will be one of the most fascinating ties of the round!
