Chelsea to host AC Milan in Champions League group clash

By Emre Asikci

ISTANBUL (AA) - Chelsea will face AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League group clash on Wednesday.

The Blues aim to end their victory drought as they are currently at the bottom of Group E. Chelsea suffered a shock 1-0 defeat against Dinamo Zagreb at Zagreb's Stadion Maksimir in the opening game and was held to a 1-1 draw by Salzburg at Stamford Bridge.

"There is a clear idea of how [Milan] want to attack and defend. They have different ways to score," Chelsea manager Graham Potter said in his pre-match interview.

Potter heaped praise on the French forward Olivier Giroud, saying: "Giroud is someone Chelsea know very well. He is a fantastic player and plays the game in a really good way, uses his quality and strengths."

English football club's French star N'Golo Kante will be out due to his hamstring injury.

AC Milan started the group stage with a 1-1 draw over Salzburg at Stadion Salzburg in the first week of the Champions League.

The Italian football side defeated Dinamo Zagreb 3-1 on their home ground, Stadio San Siro. They are top of the group with four points, one point ahead of the Croatian side.

"It's a match between two teams that play attacking football, two teams that try to dominate. They're a high-quality opponent so I certainly expect a difficult game," Milan coach Stefano Pioli said during the pre-game press conference.

The Rossoneri will be without several key players, including Mike Maignan, Theo Hernandez, Sandro Tonali and Simon Kjaer.

Wednesday Fixtures:

1645GMT:

Salzburg - Dinamo Zagreb

Leipzig - Celtic:

1900GMT:

Chelsea - AC Milan

Real Madrid - Shakhtar Donetsk

Manchester City - FC Copenhagen

Sevilla - Borussia Dortmund

Juventus - Maccabi Haifa

Benfica - Paris Saint-Germain