AC Milan vs. Feyenoord: Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

Milan are facing a heavily, heavily depleted Feyenoord side here so that should give them a huge advantage. Aside from the loss to Feyenoord last week, the Italian side are in decent form, especially on home soil where they're unbeaten in their last 12, winning four of their last five.

All in all, Milan have far more quality than a full strength Feyenoord, so with all of their absences, the Rossoneri should get the job done. Milan 2-0 Feyenoord.

AC Milan are hoping to avoid being the subject of a shock Champions League exit as they take on Feyenoord in the playoff round.

• Date: 18/02/2025
• Kick-off time: 17:45
• Location: San Siro, Milan

AC Milan fell to a 1-0 defeat in Rotterdam in the first leg. Many expected Milan to win this tie somewhat comfortably against a struggling Feyenoord side, but the Rossoneri were quite frankly shoddy and were deservedly beaten by a superior side on the night.

There were huge questions once again over winger Rafel Leão, with the winger the subject of increasing levels of criticism. On his day, Leão is simply unplayable, but his effort, particularly defensively, has been called into question on a number of occasions, even recently by manager Sérgio Conceição. Everybody who watches Leão on a consistent basis knows he has the talent to be one of the best players on the planet, but at the age of 25, he still hasn’t found a way to consistently dominate over the course of a season, and he’s very much in danger of becoming a “what if” player if he doesn’t make the necessary progression soon.

It was also quite ironic that Santiago Giménez, who Milan signed from Feyenoord in January for a huge fee, returned to his old club almost immediately, and even more ironic that he fell to a defeat despite coming in as a firm favourite. Giménez has, though, shown a lot of promise in the early weeks of his Milan career, recording two goals and one assist in three games thus far.

Another player in the early days of his Milan career is Kyle Walker, who’s had a fairly mixed start to life in Italy. Walker showed some promising signs in his first few appearances for the club, but the former Manchester City man was given the runaround by Feyenoord winger Igor Paixão, who was a real issue for Walker all game.

Both Walker and Milan will need to be dramatically improved this week if they’re to turn this tie around, and while they remain favourites, they cannot afford to be complacent.

Feyenoord, for the most part, have had a strange season. After losing Arne Slot to Liverpool in the summer, the Dutch side appointed Feyenoord manager Brian Priske, who oversaw a first half of the campaign that saw them underperform quite considerably in the Eredivisie while picking up some almost inexplicable results in the Champions League.

A 3-1 in over Benfica, a 3-3 draw at the Etihad and a 3-0 win over Bayern Munich were excellent results for Feyenoord, but all three preceded a 6-1 hammering at the hands of Lille, a result that spelled the beginning of the end of Priske’s tenure at the club.

Priske’s replacement, Pascal Bosschaart, has only been at the club for two minutes, but his first game was the 1-0 win over Milan, so it’s fair to say he started excellently. However, in his second game, the side slumped to a 0-0 draw away at NAC, so it’s not been all rosy.

Still, Bosschaart has a huge opportunity to claim a massive result for the club by sending Feyenoord into the last 16 of the Champions League. In what’s been a largely disappointing season domestically, such success in Europe would be huge for Feyenoord fans and they’ll be quietly confident about their chances in Milan.

This game will be televised live to all subscribed UK viewers on TNT Sports 3.

AC Milan Team News:

Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Alessandro Florenzi, Emerson Royal and Pierre Kalulu all remain on the treatment table, so Milan will have to do without the quartet.

However, Yunus Musah will be available for this one after missing the first leg through suspension, so he'll be hoping to work his way into the starting XI.

Maignan; Walker, Gabbia, Pavlović, Hernández; Fofana, Reijnders; Pulisic, Félix, Leão; Giménez.

Feyenoord Team News:

The Dutch side have a huge injury list, with Quinten Timber, Ayase Ueda, Gernot Trauner, Ramiz Zerrouki, Justin Bijlow, Calvin Stengs, Hwang In-beom, Chris-Kevin Nadje, Bart Nieuwkoop, Jordan Lotomba and Gernot Trauner all out injured.

As a result, Luka Ivanušec and Julián Carranza should come into the starting lineup for the visitors.

Predicted lineup: Wellenreuther; Read, Beelen, Hancko, Smal; Moder, Milambo; Hadj Moussa, Ivanušec, Paixão; Carranza.

AC Milan:

Milan's form is decent, with the Rossoneri winning three, losing one and drawing one of their last five games. At the weekend, a goal from Santiago Giménez gave them a 1-0 win over Verona, which came after last week's loss in Rotterdam and a 2-0 win over Empoli, where Rafael Leão and Giménez scored the goals.

Before that, Milan ran out 3-1 winners over Roma thanks to a Tammy Abraham goal and a goal from João Félix, which followed a 1-1 draw with rivals Inter, where Tijjani Reijnders scored the goal.

Feyenoord:

Feyenoord come into this one in mixed form with two wins, one draw and two defeats from their last five. The Dutch side were held to a 0-0 draw by NAC Breda at the weekend, which was preceded by their win over Milan last week.

Prior to that, Feyenoord beat Sparta 3-0 in the Rotterdam derby, courtesy of goals from Quinten Timber, Anis Hadj Moussa and Igor Paixão, which was preceded by a 2-0 defeat to PSV and a 2-1 loss at Ajax.

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