Big Match Feature: PSG v Milan

Paris Saint-Germain are aiming to get back on track in UEFA Champions League Group F as they take on an AC Milan side still seeking their first win and goal in this season's competition.

Having kicked off with a 2-0 win at home to Borussia Dortmund, Paris were then blown away at Newcastle on Matchday 2, going down 4-1. Milan have drawn both games 0-0, at home to the English club and then in Germany.

Previous meetings 

Paris wins 0

Milan wins 2

Draws 2

Paris goals 2

Milan goals 5

This is the sides' first fixture since they drew 1-1 in both Paris and Milan in the 2000/01 Champions League second group stage.

The goals at San Siro on 14 February 2001 both came in a five-minute period midway through the first half, Leonardo giving Milan a 26th-minute lead with Nicolas Anelka levelling in the 30th minute.

Paris struck first at the Parc des Princes six days later, Laurent Robert opening the scoring in the 75th minute, only for José Mari to snatch a point for Milan with a 90th-minute equaliser.

Neither club progressed from Group B, however, Milan finishing third on seven points, three behind both Deportivo La Coruña and Galatasaray but two above fourth-placed Paris.

Milan had beaten Paris in the 1994/95 Champions League semi-finals, Zvonimir Boban scoring a 90th-minute winner in the first leg at the Parc des Princes before two Dejan Savićević goals (21, 68) at San Siro completed a 3-0 aggregate victory.

The Rossoneri went on to lose 1-0 to Ajax in the Vienna final.

Form guide

Paris

Record vs Italian clubs: W5 D9 L9 F23 A31Home record vs Italian clubs: W2 D5 L4

Paris were paired with Juventus in last season's group stage, winning 2-1 at home on Matchday 1 thanks to Kylian Mbappé's first-half double (5, 22). Mbappé also opened the scoring in a 2-1 victory in Turin on Matchday 6, Nuno Mendes scoring a second-half winner.

That made it three victories in a row against Serie A sides, a 2-1 defeat of Atalanta in the one-off Champions League quarter-final in Lisbon in 2019/20 having ended Paris's run of six successive draws against Italian teams.

The Matchday 1 win against Juve last season was only Paris's second at home to Italian visitors and a first since a 3-1 win against Parma in the quarter-final second leg of their victorious UEFA Cup Winners' Cup campaign in 1995/96.

This is Paris's 16th Champions League group campaign, level with Lyon's French record. They have featured every season since 2012/13, reaching the knockout stages in all 11 of those most recent campaigns.

Runners-up to Bayern in the 2020 final, Les Parisiens were again beaten by the German club in last season's round of 16 (0-1 h, 0-2 a). They had finished second in Group H behind Benfica, picking up 14 points.

The French side have lost in the last 16 in five of their last seven Champions League campaigns.

Paris have lost only seven of their last 70 European home games (W45 D18), although five of those defeats have come in their last 20 matches at the Parc des Princes.

This season's Matchday 1 win against Dortmund is one of ten victories in the Parisians' last 23 European matches (D5 L8).

Paris claimed their 11th French title, and ninth in the last 11 seasons, finishing one point ahead of Lens at the top of the Ligue 1 table.

The French club replaced coach Christophe Galtier with Luis Enrique in the summer.

Milan

Record vs French clubs: W12 D7 L7 F32 A24Away record vs French clubs: W4 D4 L4

Milan's last game against French opponents was a 1-1 draw at LOSC Lille on Matchday 4 of the 2020/21 UEFA Europa League; they had lost 3-0 at home.

The Italian side are unbeaten on their last five visits to France (W2 D3), since a 2-1 loss at Lens in the 2002/03 Champions League first group stage.

The Rossoneri's most famous encounter with French opposition outside Italy was the inaugural Champions League final of 1992/93, which they lost 1-0 to Marseille in Munich.

Milan are making their third successive Champions League group appearance and a 20th overall, three behind Juventus's Italian record of 23.

The seven-time European champions – who claimed their first title at Wembley, the venue for this season's final, in 1963 – reached the knockout rounds for the first time since 2013/14 last season. They finished second behind Chelsea in Group E and then knocked out Tottenham and Napoli (1-0 h, 1-1 a) only to lose another all-Italian tie, against neighbours Inter, in the last four (0-2 h, 0-1 a).

Despite five victories in 2022/23, Milan have won only seven of their last 27 UEFA Champions League games (D9 L11). A 4-0 victory at Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 5 in 2022/23 is one of just three in 15 away games, group stage to final (D6 L6).

Milan were Champions League winners in 1994, 2003 and 2007 and runners-up in 1993, 1995 and 2005. They are the only Italian side to triumph more than once in the Champions League era.

The Rossoneri finished fourth in Serie A in 2022/23, 20 points behind champions Napoli.

Links and trivia

Paris full-back Lucas Hernández and Milan defender Theo Hernández are brothers. Both born in Marseille, they signed for Atlético de Madrid in 2007 and were both on the club's books until Theo signed for Real Madrid in 2017.

Gianluigi Donnarumma joined Milan aged 14 in 2013, making his first-team debut two years later. Aged 16 years 242 days, he was the second youngest goalkeeper in Serie A history.

Donnarumma went on to make 251 appearances for Milan in all competitions, including 215 in Serie A, before signing for Paris in June 2021.

Born in Vitry-sur-Seine in the Paris suburbs, Yacine Adli joined the Paris academy in 2013 and made his first-team debut in the final Ligue 1 match of the 2017/18 campaign. That proved to be his sole appearance before moving to Bordeaux the following January, although he went on to make 104 appearances over three and a half years with Les Girondins, scoring six goals including one in a 2-2 draw at the Parc des Princes on 28 November 2020.

Alessandro Florenzi spent 2020/21 on loan at Paris from Roma, making 36 appearances in all competitions and winning the Coupe de France.

Have also played in Italy:

Achraf Hakimi (Inter 2020/21)
Milan Škriniar (Sampdoria 2016/17, Inter 2017–23)
Marquinhos (Roma 2012/13)
Fabián Ruiz (Napoli 2018–22)
Danilo Pereira (Parma 2011/12)

Škriniar won 11 of his 18 games against Milan with Inter, losing only four. He captained the Nerazzurri to a 3-1 win in the Italian Super Cup on 18 January, setting up Lautaro Martínez for the final goal of a 3-0 win.

Have also played in France:
Pierre Kalulu (Lyon 2010–20)
Olivier Giroud (Grenoble 1999–2008, Istres 2007/08 loan, Tours 2008–10, Montpellier 2010–12)
Rafael Leão (LOSC Lille 2018/19)
Mike Maignan (LOSC Lille 2015–21)
Simon Kjær (LOSC Lille 2013–15)

Maignan was part of Paris's youth set-up between 2009 and 2015, making 42 appearances for the club's B team before departing for LOSC Lille in 2015.

Have played together:
Achraf Hakimi & Christian Pulišić (Dortmund 2018/19)
Ousmane Dembélé & Christian Pulišić (Dortmund 2016/17)
Marquinhos & Alessandro Florenzi (Roma 2012/13)
Marco Asensio & Luka Jović (Real Madrid 2019–21)
Marco Asensio & Theo Hernández (2017/18)
Lee Kang-In & Yunus Musah (Valencia 2019–21)
Carlos Soler & Yunus Musah (Valencia 2019–22)

International team-mates:
Gianluigi Donnarumma & Mattia Caldara, Davide Calabria, Alessandro Florenzi (Italy)
Lucas Hernández, Nordi Mukiele, Presnel Kimpembe, Kylian Mbappé, Ousmane Dembélé & Mike Maignan, Theo Hernández, Pierre Kalulu, Olivier Giroud (France)
Nuno Mendes, Danilo, Vitinha, Gonçalo Ramos & Rafael Leão (Portugal)

Paris coach Luis Enrique was in charge of Simon Kjær at Roma in 2011/12.

Enrique and Milan counterpart Stefano Pioli met twice in Serie A that season, Enrique's Roma being held to a 1-1 home draw by a Bologna side coached by Pioli before a 2-0 away win.

Latest news

Paris

On Saturday Paris were 3-0 winners at home to Strasbourg, the first time they had kept successive home clean sheets in Ligue 1 since December 2021–February 2022.

Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring from the penalty spot and has eight Ligue 1 goals in as many outings this season, and nine in ten games in all competitions with Paris.

Carlos Soler was also on target, his first Ligue 1 goal since 11 March, with Fabián Ruiz also scoring for the first time this season.

Lucas Hernández scored his first Paris goal in the 4-1 Matchday 2 defeat at Newcastle.

Paris bounced back from their defeat on Tyneside with a 3-1 win at Rennes on 8 October thanks to goals from Vitinha, Achraf Hakimi and Randal Kolo Muani.

An unused substitute on Saturday, Hakimi has four goals in his last seven appearances in all competitions with Paris.

Paris have 18 points after nine league games this season, seven points less than at the same point in 2022/23. It is their lowest total at this stage of a Ligue 1 campaign since 2014/15, when they had 15.

Paris were top of the table from the first matchday to the last in 2022/23.

Gonçalo Ramos scored his first Paris goals with a double in a 4-0 home win against Marseille on 24 September. He has two goals in ten club appearances this season compared to three in two for Portugal.

Kang-in Lee was out with a muscular injury between 19 August and 19 September, when he returned as a late substitute. He then left for the Asian Games, playing 72 minutes as South Korea beat Japan 2-1 in the final on 8 October.

Lee scored twice in South Korea's 3-0 friendly win against Tunisia in Seoul on 13 October, his first international goals, and was also on target in a 6-0 friendly win against Vietnam four days later. He started on Saturday, his first Ligue 1 appearance since 19 August.

Two Mbappé goals gave France a 2-1 victory in Amsterdam against the Netherlands on 13 October to take Les Bleus to UEFA EURO 2024. Ousmane Dembélé, Kolo Muani and Hernández also featured.

Four days later, Mbappé scored another penalty in Lille as France ran out 4-1 friendly winners against Scotland. The France captain is now his country's fourth highest scorer with 43 goals, 11 from record holder Olivier Giroud.

Warren Zaïre-Emery captained France to a 9-0 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship victory against Cyprus in Grenoble on 17 October, his country's record win; Bradley Barcola set up one of the goals.

Ramos scored as Portugal beat Milan Škriniar's Slovakia 3-2 on 13 October to confirm their place at UEFA EURO 2024. Danilo and Vitinha also featured for the home side.

Ruiz started Spain's 1-0 win in Oslo on 15 October as La Roja also booked their spot at UEFA EURO 2024.

Gianluigi Donnarumma's Italy lost 3-1 to England at Wembley on 17 October in a repeat of the UEFA EURO 2020 final.

Hakimi provided an assist as Morocco beat Liberia 3-0 on 17 October.

Zaïre-Emery sustained an ankle injury on U21 duty and was not in the Paris squad on Saturday.

Presnel Kimpembe (out since 26 February, Achilles tendon) and Nuno Mendes (hamstring) are both still to appear this season. The latter underwent surgery on 29 September and is expected to be out for four months.

Marco Asensio, who withdrew from the Spain squad on 8 September after a foot injury, has not played since.

Marquinhos was voted Paris captain this summer by his team-mates.

Mbappé and summer signing Kolo Muani have been included on the 30-player shortlist for the Ballon d'Or, which will be announced in Paris on 30 October.

Milan

Milan went down 1-0 at home to Juventus on Sunday, playing more than half the match with ten men after Malick Thiaw's 40th-minute red card.

On 7 October Milan defeated Genoa 1-0 courtesy of a late Christian Pulišić goal to move into the outright leadership of Serie A, a position they relinquished at the weekend.

Olivier Giroud went in goal for the final minutes after Mike Maignan was sent off with Milan having already used all five substitutes.

Milan have won seven of the first eight Serie A games in two of their last three seasons, also doing so in 2021/22. They had managed the feat only twice in the previous 67 seasons.

The Genoa game was one of five Milan clean sheets in their last seven games in all competitions.

Pulišić has scored four goals in Serie A for Milan this term.

The Milan forward was also on target in the United States' 3-1 friendly defeat against Germany on 14 October and the 4-0 win against Ghana four days later.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek has not played since suffering a groin problem on 30 September.

Defender Mattia Caldara will be out for about three months after undergoing ankle surgery.

Samuel Chukwueze will be out for about a month after suffering a thigh injury on international duty with Nigeria.

Reserve goalkeeper Marco Sportiello is expected to be out of action for ten days with a calf injury.

Pierre Kalulu came on for Pulišić after Thiaw's red card on Sunday, his first appearance since 1 September due to a thigh injury, while Rade Krunić also returned as a second-half substitute having missed four matches with a similar problem.

Ismaël Bennacer has not been included in Milan's Champions League squad as he is recovering from the knee ligament injury suffered in the first leg of last season's semi-final.