The two European greats played against each other twice in a CL final on neutral ground.
Liverpool against AC Milan is one of the big games at the start of the group stage of the Champions League on Wednesday. The first competitive game for the Milanese on Anfield Road. There were two duels in the Champions League, in 2005 and 2007. Both were finals, in 2005 Liverpool won the Champions League in Istanbul, and in 2007 Milan prevailed in Athens.
Milan traditionally have a hard time against English teams. The last win came in February 2012 with a Champions League win against Arsenal. Whereby: For Milan it is a long-awaited comeback in the premier class. They have been absent there since the end against Atletico Madrid in March 2014.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the player who has scored goals for most clubs in the Champions League. The almost 40-year-old Swede scored for Ajax Amsterdam, Juventus Turin, Inter Milan, Paris SG and AC Milan. He has a total of 48 goals in 120 games. He scored nine of them for AC Milan between 2010 and 2012. The catch: He just watches the current hit in Liverpool. On Sunday he came into play in the 2-0 win against Lazio after an hour, contributed the second goal and now complains of a sore Achilles tendon.
Curious
The game between Sheriff Tiraspol and Shakhtar Donetsk from Ukraine is less of a hit. With Sheriff Tiraspol, a club from Moldova is in the group stage of the premier class for the first time.
How is that possible? Behind this is a curious company that is not only important in the region in football. Sheriff was founded in 1993 by former members of a special unit from the Soviet Union. The security company became a conglomerate consisting of gas stations, a bank, a TV station, a construction company, a supermarket chain, a Mercedes branch, a mobile network, two bread factories – and the FC Sheriff. The company's arm also extends far into the regional government. The Renewal Party has 29 of the 33 seats in the Parliament of Transnistria and is the de facto political wing of the Sheriff. The club's boss and sponsor is Viktor Gushan, once one of the club's founders.
