Milan aim to master Arsenal

AC Milan's display of resilience in north London puts them in good heart to finish the job at home while Arsenal FC are under pressure to avoid a departure from the UEFA Champions League at the first knockout round stage for the second successive season.

• The English side ended the first leg – the first meeting between these great sides in the European Champion Clubs' Cup – in frustration after Milan goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac had shown his best form to earn the visitors a 0-0 draw at the Arsenal Stadium. The crossbar kept out Emmanuel Adebayor's header from point-blank range in the closing seconds.

• The reigning champions will not be unhappy if the tie provides an exact replica of their encounter at this stage 12 months ago when Milan earned a 0-0 draw on British soil in the first game, away to Celtic FC, before edging through in the return courtesy of Kaká's extra-time goal.

• That secured Carlo Ancelotti's team a fifth successive quarter-final berth in the competition and they will be reasonably confident of making it six in a stadium where they have never been beaten by visitors from England. In eleven competitive contests Milan have won seven and drawn four with that sequence including a 2-0 win against Arsenal in the 1994 UEFA Super Cup, lifting the trophy by the same aggregate score.

• Milan's last two home games with English opponents – Manchester United FC in each case – have resulted in victories. The Italian side won 3-0 in last season's UEFA Champions League semi-final to complete a 5-3 aggregate win and 1-0 in the 2004/05 first knockout round which gave them a 2-0 overall victory.

• Milan, who won all three home games to finish as winners of Group D with a four-point advantage over Celtic, have established a dominance over English opponents in European knockout ties, winning six of the eight fixtures overall. They have also had the better of things when facing English teams in finals. Apart from their victory against the Gunners in the 1994 UEFA Super Cup, they beat Leeds United AFC 1-0 in the 1972/73 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and Liverpool 2-1 in last season's UEFA Champions League showpiece in Athens. In the 2005 final in Istanbul they drew 3-3 with Liverpool after extra time only to lose on penalties.

• Arsenal, competing in their tenth successive UEFA Champions League campaign, have also done well against Italian teams in knockout ties, winning all four of their previous contests. As well as defeating Juventus twice and Torino FC outright, they also tied 5-5 on aggregate with UC Sampdoria in the 1994/95 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup semi-final before going through on penalties. The London clubs were holders of the trophy that season having defeated Parma FC 1-0 in the 1994 final staged at the Parken Stadium, Copenhagen.

• Arsenal's last visit to Italy ended in a 0-0 draw, against Juventus in the 2005/06 quarter-final second leg, with two victories preceding it. They won 5-1 at San Siro against FC Internazionale Milano in the 2003/04 group stage while the previous season brought a 3-1 success at AS Roma. In the last five home-and-away encounters with Italian sides Arsenal have come out on top each time.  

• It is the fourth successive year that Arsène Wenger's side have faced a former European Cup winner at this stage. They bowed out to PSV Eindhoven 12 months ago; the previous year they took on Real Madrid CF, winning 1-0 away and drawing 0-0 at home, while in the 2004/05 season they found FC Bayern München too strong.