Tottenham vs AC Milan facts

Tottenham Hotspur have work to do as they welcome AC Milan to north London seeking to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit in their UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie.

A seventh-minute header from Brahim Díaz separated the sides at San Siro as Milan made a winning return to the competition's knockout rounds after an absence of nine seasons at the expense of Spurs, who are in the round of 16 for the first time since 2019/20.

Milan made it to this stage as Group E runners-up, progressing despite losing away and at home to section winners Chelsea, while Spurs snatched first place in Group D in the final seconds of a thrilling Matchday 6 denouement.

This is the Rossoneri's 11th round of 16 appearance but their first since 2013/14 – the tenth time they had reached this stage in 11 seasons. Spurs, meanwhile, are in the round of 16 for the fifth time, the first bringing them a notable victory against these opponents.

Previous meetings

This is only the sides' sixth fixture, the first leg their first since the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League round of 16, when Peter Crouch's 80th-minute strike for Harry Redknapp's Tottenham in the San Siro first leg proved to be the only goal of the tie against Massimiliano Allegri's Milan.

Zlatan Ibrahimović, who played all 180 minutes, is the only survivor from either club.

Spurs went on to lose 5-0 on aggregate to Real Madrid in the quarter-finals (0-4 a, 0-1 a).

The teams' first tie had come in the semi-finals of the inaugural UEFA Cup in 1971/72, Steve Perryman's double giving Spurs a 2-1 home first-leg win after Romeo Benetti had put Milan in front at White Hart Lane. Alan Mullery stretched the English club's aggregate advantage seven minutes into the San Siro second leg, Milan bowing out despite Gianni Rivera's second-half penalty.

Spurs went on to beat fellow English side Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 on aggregate in the two-legged final.

Form guide

Tottenham

Tottenham are in the UEFA Champions League proper for the sixth time, and the first since 2019/20, which was their fourth participation in as many seasons. Their best performance came in 2018/19, when they reached a first European Cup final but lost 2-0 to Liverpool in an all-English decider in Madrid.

In their most recent UEFA Champions League campaign, three seasons ago, Spurs finished second in Group B on ten points, eight behind Bayern München – who had won 7-2 in north London on Matchday 2, Tottenham's heaviest home European defeat – before losing to another German club, Leipzig, in the round of 16 (0-1 h, 0-3 a).

The Lilywhites were in the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League in 2021/22, finishing third in Group G behind Rennes and Vitesse on seven points.

This season, Spurs took only four points from their first three games but seven from the next three, courtesy of a 3-2 win at home to Eintracht Frankfurt, a 1-1 draw against Sporting CP and a closing 2-1 victory at Marseille. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg's goal five minutes into added time on Matchday 6 secured first place in Group D on 11 points, one ahead of Frankfurt.

That was only the third time Spurs had finished first in their UEFA Champions League section, the others in 2010/11 and 2017/18 when they finished ahead of Inter Milan and Real Madrid respectively, although all but one of their six seasons in the competition have now extended into the knockout rounds.

Tottenham qualified for this season's UEFA Champions League by finishing fourth in the 2021/22 Premier League, their highest final league placing since 2018/19.

Spurs have won four of their last eight home UEFA Champions League matches, losing three; they have won 11 of their last 13 European home games, the exceptions a 0-3 forfeit against Rennes last season and the Matchday 5 draw with Sporting this season.

Spurs' round of 16 record is W2 L2, the 2010/11 win against Milan coming in their first tie and the 2019/20 defeat by Leipzig the most recent.

Tottenham last faced Italian opposition before this tie in the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League group stage, beating Milan's neighbours Inter 1-0 in north London after a 2-1 loss at San Siro. That home win means the London club have lost only one of their nine fixtures at home to Italian clubs (W5 D3) – a 2-1 defeat against Juventus in the 2017/18 round of 16 second leg, which took place at Wembley Stadium.

The home victory against Inter is one of only two in Spurs' last nine fixtures against Italian sides (D3 L4).

Tottenham boast a positive record in two-legged ties against Italian opponents: W4 L2. One of those defeats came in the most recent encounter, however, against Juventus in the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League round of 16 (2-2 a, 1-2 h).

Spurs have won ten of the 19 UEFA competition ties in which they lost the away first leg, most recently against Paços de Ferreira in last season's UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying play-offs (0-1 a, 3-0 h). That was the ninth tie in which the away first leg had finished 1-0, and Tottenham's fifth aggregate victory.

Tottenham's record in three UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W1 L2:
4-3 v Anderlecht, 1983/84 UEFA Cup final
5-6 v PSV Eindhoven, 2007/08 UEFA Cup round of 16
1-4 v Basel, 2012/13 UEFA Europa League quarter-final

Milan

Having ended their seven-year absence from the UEFA Champions League group stage in 2021/22, this is Milan's second successive campaign and 19th overall, four behind the Italian record held by Juventus.

Last season Stefano Pioli's side finished bottom of Group B behind Liverpool, Atlético de Madrid and Porto having collected four points, their sole victory a 1-0 success in Madrid on Matchday 5.

That was the first time Milan had failed to qualify from the initial group stage in a UEFA Champions League campaign since 1999/2000, ending a run of 12 straight successes.

Seven times champions of Europe, most recently in 2007, the Rossoneri have been eliminated in the round of 16 in five of their seven UEFA Champions League campaigns since that triumph.

Milan's last appearance in the round of 16 brought a 5-1 aggregate defeat against Atlético in 2013/14 (0-1 h, 1-4 a). The Italian club's overall record at this stage is W5 L5.

Milan are the only Italian side to win the UEFA Champions League more than once having triumphed in 1994, 2003 and 2007. They were also beaten finalists in 1993, 1995 and 2005 but have not reached the quarter-finals since 2011/12.

Pioli's team responded to last season's early European exit by winning the Serie A title, the club's 19th league championship and a first since 2010/11.

This season, Milan picked up ten points in Group E to finish three behind Chelsea – who beat them 3-0 at Stamford Bridge and 2-0 at San Siro – clinching second place thanks to 4-0 victories in each of their last two games, at Dinamo Zagreb and at home to Salzburg. Those wins equalled the club's biggest margins of victory in the UEFA Champions League.

Despite beating Dinamo Zagreb twice in this season's group stage and Salzburg once before their first-leg victory against Spurs, Milan have won only six of their last 20 UEFA Champions League games (D5 L9); the Matchday 5 win at Dinamo was just their third in 11 away games, group stage to final (D2 L6).

The Italian side have managed only three wins in their last 13 matches in the round of 16, losing eight – although one of those victories was a 4-0 first-leg success against Tottenham's neighbours Arsenal in 2011/12, a tie they won despite a 3-0 second-leg loss in north London.

The victory against Spurs on 14 February ended Milan's run of five successive defeats by English clubs. Home and away, that was only their second win in their last 18 games against Premier League opponents (D4 L12), the other that 4-0 defeat of Arsenal at San Siro in the 2011/12 UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg. They have now lost eight of their last ten (W1 D1).

Milan lifted the European Cup for the first time with a 2-1 win against Benfica at Wembley in 1963 and also won the 2003 UEFA Champions League final at Old Trafford in Manchester, defeating Juventus on penalties after a 0-0 draw. However, their record in England against English hosts shows just one win in 20 matches (D7 L12), against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the 2004/05 round of 16 when Hernán Crespo scored the only goal of the game.

The Italian side's record against English clubs in London is W3 D3, with defeats on each of their last three visits and just one goal scored over the six matches.

Milan's record in two-legged knockout ties against English opposition is W8 L7, although they have lost five of the last six, most recently against Manchester United in the 2020/21 UEFA Europa League round of 16 (1-1 a, 0-1 h).

The Rossoneri also have a positive record in European finals against English clubs, beating Leeds 1-0 in Salonika to lift the 1973 European Cup Winners' Cup, taking the UEFA Super Cup at Arsenal's expense in 1995 (0-0 a, 2-0 h), and overcoming Liverpool 2-1 in the 2007 UEFA Champions League showpiece in Athens – two years after they had lost the same fixture to the same opponents on penalties following a 3-3 draw in Istanbul.

While Milan have won 37 out of 43 UEFA competition ties in which they won the first leg at home, most recently against Shkëndija of North Macedonia in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League qualifying play-offs (6-0 h, 1-0 a), they have won five of seven ties when winning 1-0 at home first, including all of the last four. Most recently, they beat Crvena zvezda in the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round (2-1 a); both aggregate defeats have come at the hands of Dutch clubs, against Feyenoord in the 1969/70 European Cup second round (0-2 a) and Ajax in the 1973 UEFA Super Cup, a 6-0 away loss the worst suffered by an Italian team in a UEFA final.

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 UEFA Champions League final
2-3 v Liverpool, 2004/05 UEFA Champions League final
9-8 v Rio Ave, 2020/21 UEFA Europa League qualifying play-offs

Links and trivia

Antonio Conte was in charge of Milan's city rivals Inter between 2019 and 2021, reaching the UEFA Europa League final in 2019/20 and winning the Serie A title the following season. Under Conte, Inter won four of their five derby fixtures against Milan – including a 2-1 quarter-final win in the Coppa Italia in January 2021 – losing the other.

Conte played in Serie A for Lecce (1985–91) and Juventus (1991–2004). He also coached Atalanta (2009/10) and Juventus (2011–14) in Serie A before taking charge of Italy between 2014 and 2016. His record against Milan as a coach was W6 D3 L1, his Juve side knocking Milan out of the Coppa Italia in the 2011/12 semi-finals and the following season's quarter-finals.

Alessandro Florenzi was in Conte's Italy squad at UEFA EURO 2016.

Conte coached Olivier Giroud at Chelsea in 2018.

Giroud scored 39 goals in 119 games for Chelsea between 2018 and signing for Milan in 2021, including one in a 4-1 win against former club Arsenal in the 2019 UEFA Europa League final; he also appeared in Chelsea's 2018 FA Cup final victory under Conte and was an unused substitute in their 2021 UEFA Champions League defeat of Manchester City. The Frenchman had scored 105 times in 253 games for Arsenal between 2012 and 2018, winning three FA Cups.

Giroud scored four goals in his 18 games against Tottenham for Arsenal and Chelsea with the record W7 D5 L6.

Conte was assistant coach at Siena when Antonio Mirante was the goalkeeper in 2005/06.

Have also played in England:
Fikayo Tomori (Chelsea 2005–21, Brighton 2017 loan, Hull 2017/18 loan, Derby 2018/19 loan)
Ismaël Bennacer (Arsenal 2015–17)
Brahim Díaz (Manchester City 2015–19)
Divock Origi (Liverpool 2014–22)
Zlatan Ibrahimović (Manchester United 2016–18)

Origi scored Liverpool's second goal in their 2-0 win against Tottenham in the 2019 UEFA Champions League final, and also won the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup, the 2019/20 Premier League and, last season, the English League Cup and the FA Cup while at Anfield.

In 2016/17 with United Ibrahimović won the English League Cup, scoring twice in the final win against Southampton, and the UEFA Europa League, although he missed the latter final through injury.

Ivan Perišić was an Inter player between 2015 and 2022, spending 2019/20 on loan at Bayern München, and was coached by current Milan boss Stefano Pioli in 2016/17. He won the 2020/21 Serie A title and the 2021/22 Coppa Italia with the Nerazzurri.

Have also played in Italy:
Cristian Romero (Genoa 2018–20, Atalanta 2020/21)
Dejan Kulusevski (Atalanta 2016–20, Parma 2019/20 loan, Juventus 2020–22)
Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus 2017–22)

Rafael Leão was in the Sporting CP academy when Eric Dier was also at the Portuguese club between 2012 and 2014.

Have also played together:
Clément Lenglet & Simon Kjær (Sevilla 2017/18)
Lucas Moura & Zlatan Ibrahimović (Paris Saint Germain 2013–16)

International team-mates:
Hugo Lloris, Clément Lenglet & Olivier Giroud, Mike Maignan, Theo Hernández (France)
Ivan Perišić & Ante Rebić (Coatia)
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg & Simon Kjær (Denmark)
Dejan Kulusevski & Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden)
Pape Matar Sarr & Fodé Ballo-Touré (Senegal)
Pedro Porro & Brahim Díaz (Spain U21)

Tottenham defender Cristian Romero was a direct opponent of Giroud in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final as Argentina lifted the trophy at France's expense, the striker being substituted before half-time.

Latest news

Tottenham

UEFA Champions League squad changes

In: Arnaut Danjuma, Pedro Porro, Alfie Whiteman
Out: Matt Doherty, Bryan Gil, Djed Spence

In January Spurs brought in Arnaut Danjuma (Villarreal) and Pedro Porro (Sporting CP) on loan for the rest of the season. Matt Doherty joined Atlético de Madrid on a permanent deal while Bryan Gil and Djed Spence will spend the rest of the season on loan at Sevilla and Rennes respectively.

Tottenham have won four of their last six Premier League matches, the exceptions a 4-1 loss at Leicester on 11 February and Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The latter made it four successive away defeats in all competitions; Tottenham have now lost three of their last four Premier League away games, as many as in the previous 16.

Spurs have recorded 2-0 home wins against both West Ham and Chelsea since their defeat in Milan, Oliver Skipp scoring his first Premier League goal in the latter match.

That has made it three successive home wins, all with a clean sheet, for Antonio Conte's side; Spurs had managed only two victories in their preceding seven fixtures in their own stadium, losing four and conceding two goals in each of those defeats.

Harry Kane got the winner in a 1-0 home victory against Manchester City on 5 February to become Spurs' record scorer on 267 goals, overtaking the record set by Jimmy Greaves between 1961 and 1970. Greaves made 379 appearances for Spurs; the City game was Kane's 416th Tottenham match.

It was also Kane's 200th Premier League goal; he is only the third player to reach that mark, after Alan Shearer (260 goals) and Wayne Rooney (208).

Kane has scored 18 of Tottenham's 46 goals in this season's Premier League including six of the last 15, most recently the second against Chelsea.

Conte has missed Tottenham's last four matches as he recuperates in Italy after emergency surgery on his gall bladder. Assistant manager Cristian Stellini has taken charge.

Spurs were eliminated from the FA Cup in the last 16 by a 1-0 defeat at Championship side Sheffield United on 1 March.

Spurs' League Cup campaign was ended by a 2-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest on 9 November in the third round, their first tie in this season's competition.

Cristian Romero appeared in all seven games as Argentina won the 2022 FIFA World Cup, starting six including the final.

Hugo Lloris retired from international football after captaining France to the final at Qatar 2022, where he made six appearances to finish his Les Bleus career with 145 caps – three more than previous national record holder Lilian Thuram.

Lloris has not played since suffering a knee injury in the win against Manchester City.

Rodrigo Bentancur is not expected to play against this season after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in a 4-1 loss at Leicester on 11 February.

On 10 February Yves Bissouma underwent surgery to replace a stress fracture in his left ankle.

Ryan Sessegnon has not played since 5 February due to a hamstring problem.

Emerson Royal missed the defeat at Sheffield United with a knee injury, coming on as a late substitute on Saturday.

Milan

UEFA Champions League squad changes

In: Andrea Bartoccioni*, Federico Mangiameli*, Fotios Pseftis*, Malick Thiaw
Out: Sergiño Dest, Andreas Jungdal
*B list

After losing four games in a row in all competitions, Milan were on a streak of four consecutive wins without conceding before going down 2-1 at Fiorentina on Saturday.

That made it three defeats in the Rossoneri's last four away games in all competitions (W1).

Before beating Spurs, Milan were 1-0 winners at home to Torino on 10 February; they subsequently won by the same score at Monza before a 2-0 home victory against Atalanta.

That was the first time Milan had earned four consecutive victories without conceding in all competitions since a five-game run in February 2018.

Milan lost 4-0 at Lazio on 24 January and 5-2 at home against Sassuolo five days later. They had never conceded four or more goals in two consecutive Serie A games in their history.

Until the game against Lazio, Milan had not conceded four or more goals without scoring since a 5-0 defeat at Atalanta on 22 December 2019.

The game against Sassuolo was the first in which Milan conceded five or more goals at home since a 6-1 defeat against Juventus on 6 April 1997.

Milan were eliminated in the Coppa Italia round of 16 by a 1-0 home extra-time loss against Torino on 11 January.

A week later the Rossoneri lost 3-0 to Inter in the Italian Super Cup.

Milan conceded 18 goals in seven games in all competitions in January but let in just one in five games in February.

The 1-0 win against Torino on 10 February was Milan's 3,000th game in Serie A (W1458, D879, L663). They are only the fourth team to reach that landmark, after Inter, Roma and Juventus.

Junior Messias scored the winner at Monza on 18 February and was also on target against Atalanta.

Brahim Díaz (sprained knee) and Matteo Gabbia (flu) missed Milan's weekend defeat.

The Atalanta game marked Zlatan Ibrahimović's return to action having not played since 22 May due to a knee injury. The Swede, who also came on on Saturday, has not been included in the list for the UEFA Champions League.

Mike Maignan played 90 minutes against Atalanta and Fiorentina; the French international had been out with a calf injury since the UEFA Nations League game against Austria on 22 September.

Fikayo Tomori returned against Monza having been out since 24 January with a hip injury.

Ismaël Bennacer, who signed a new contract until 2027 in January, started on Saturday having not played since 24 January due to a thigh injury.

Alessandro Florenzi was an unused substitute on Saturday after recovering from the serious thigh injury he suffered in August.

Davide Calabria missed three games with a hip problem before being an unused substitute on Saturday.

Theo Hernández and Olivier Giroud both started the 2022 FIFA World Cup final for France, who lost on penalties against Argentina. Both players made six appearances at Qatar 2022, Giroud scoring four goals and Hernández one.

Giroud now has a record 53 goals for France, his round of 16 strike against Poland surpassing Thierry Henry's previous national best of 51.

On 20 February coach Stefano Pioli won the Panchina d'Oro (Golden Bench) coach of the year award for 2021/22 after leading Milan to the Serie A title.