Celtic collide with Milan yet again

Celtic FC will be looking to avenge defeat in last season's first knockout round as European champions AC Milan return to Celtic Park on Matchday 2.

• While Celtic suffered a 2-0 defeat by FC Shakhtar Donetsk on Matchday 1, Milan took three points from their opener against SL Benfica at the Stadio Guiseppe Meazza. This will be the Italian club's 200th European Champion Clubs' Cup game.

• The two sides are preparing for their seventh meeting in European competition. In their six previous games, Celtic have yet to record a win, drawing three games and losing the rest. Of their previous meetings in Glasgow, two have produced 0-0 draws with the other ending in a 1-0 win for Milan.

• Celtic visited Milan for the first time in 1968/69 and came away with a goalless draw from the first leg of their European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-final tie. However, Piero Prati's lone strike at Celtic Park sent the Rossoneri through and they went on to lift the trophy.

• Milan beat Celtic 3-1 when the sides met for a second time at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in the group stage of the 2004/05 competition. The Scottish team very nearly earned a draw as Stanislav Varga equalised Andriy Shevchenko's first-half opener with 16 minutes remaining. However, the Rossoneri struck twice in the closing moments through Filippo Inzaghi (89 minutes) and Andrea Pirlo (90).

• The two starting lineups that September 2004 night were:
Milan - Dida; Cafu, Nesta, Maldini, Pancaro; Gattuso, Pirlo, Kaká, Seedorf; Shevchenko, Tomasson
Celtic - Marshall; Agathe, Varga, Balde, Valgaeren; Petrov, Lennon, Sutton, Thompson; Hartson, Camara

• The teams drew 0-0 at Celtic Park in the return fixture, played in the final round of group games - a stalemate that consigned Celtic to fourth place, with Milan top.

• The two sides met again last season in the first knockout round, drawing 0-0 in the first leg in Glasgow before Kaká decided the tie with a strike three minutes into extra time in the second leg in Milan.

• The two starting lineups that March 2007 night were:
Milan - Dida; Oddo, Bonera, Maldini, Jankulovski; Gattuso, Ambrosini, Pirlo, Kaká, Seedorf; Inzaghi
Celtic - Boruc; Telfer, McManus, O'Dea, Naylor; Lennon, McGeady, Sno, Jarošík, Nakamura; Vennegoor of Hesselink

• Celtic have played 15 games against Italian sides, with the most famous of them being Jock Stein's side's 2-1 win against FC Internazionale Milano in the 1966/67 European Cup final. That defeat was avenged in 1971/72 when Celtic suffered semi-final heartache, losing 5-4 on penalties at Celtic Park following two 0-0 draws.

• Celtic's overall record against Italian sides reads won four, drawn five and lost six. At home, they have won three, drawn three and lost one.

• Milan's overall record in 12 games against Scottish sides reads won seven, drawn three and lost two. In Scotland itself, they have won two, drawn two and lost two.

• Celtic's Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink was in the PSV Eindhoven team beaten by Milan in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Milan's Gennaro Gattuso, meanwhile, played in five 'Old Firm' derbies for former club Rangers FC against Celtic in 1997/98 - winning three, drawing one and losing one.

• Milan's Pirlo scored twice at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza as an Italy side featuring him, Gattuso and Alberto Gilardino overcame a Scotland side including Celtic's Steven Pressley 2-0 in a 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier in March 2005.

• More recently, on 28 March this year, Italy beat Scotland 2-0 in a UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifier with Luca Toni scoring both goals. Milan's Massimo Oddo and Gennaro Gattuso were in the starting lineup with Andrea Pirlo coming on as a substitute, while Celtic's Paul Hartley and Scott Brown started the game for Scotland and Steven Pressley was an unused substitute.

• Massimo Donati faces an early reunion with his former Milan team-mates having joined Celtic from the Italian club for a €4.5m fee in June. The player made just 17 league appearances for Milan after joining the club from Atalanta BC in 2001, spending much of his spell with the club on loan to other Serie A sides.

• Milan goalkeeper Dida celebrates his 34th birthday on 7 October. Three Celtic players have birthdays in the following days: Dianbobo Baldé turns 32 on the 5th, Stephen Pressley is 34 on the 11th and Paul Hartley is 31 on the 19th.

• Celtic earned a place in the third qualifying round as Scottish champions, reaching the group stage with a win against FC Spartak Moskva. Milan finished fourth in Serie A but qualified for the group stage as last season's UEFA Champions League winners.

• Milan are at home against Shakhtar on Matchday 3 while on the same evening, 24 October, Celtic visit Benfica.