LOSC Lille Métropole coach Claude Puel insists his side must come away from San Siro with "no regrets" on Wednesday night ahead of their deciding Group H match against AC Milan.
The visitors have not made life easy for themselves; their 2-2 home draw with RSC Anderlecht on Matchday 5, coupled with Milan's surprise loss to AEK Athens FC the same night, means they must better AEK's result in Brussels to reach the knockout stages for the first time.
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Coach Puel, however, knows very well that inflicting a defeat upon the six-time European champions will be no small task, even if the hosts are assured of progress as group winners.
Milan has focused all their efforts on a successful UEFA Champions League campaign and after a poor start to their domestic season they have turned their form around in this competition. They may have lost at AEK but they deserved to win and they will want to prove a point by returning to their high standards in front of their own fans.
Lille will be boosted by their spirited comeback at AS Nancy-Lorraine at the weekend that brought a 3-1 Ligue 1 victory. Against Milan the visitors will be without first choice goalkeeper Tony Sylva, who has undergone a hand operation, and midfielder Stéphane Dumont (knee).
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On a brighter note, captain Grégory Tafforeau is confident of shaking off his ankle problem.
Milan should have the support of a bumper crowd after cutting ticket prices to €1 and their coach Carlo Ancelotti is looking to shake off his side's 1-0 reverse in Athens, not to mention Sunday's 2-2 draw at Cagliari Calcio which has left them 15th in Serie A.
They want three points because first, they want to get back to winning ways and second, out of respect for this competition and the other teams who are trying to finish in second place.
Every year Milan’s main objective is to go as far as possible in the UEFA Champions League. They've always started well and this year they come first in their section again.
Since Ancelotti has been there, Milan has won it, reached the last eight, gone to the final and last year they made the semi-finals. But just because they’ve already qualified for the next stage doesn't mean they’re going to let up.
Marco Borriello scored against Cagliari and is in contention to start but a catalogue of injuries has deprived Ancelotti of Dida, Alessandro Nesta, Serginho and Gennaro Gattuso. They will be replaced by Zeljko Kalac, Marek Jankulovski and Dario Šimi?, while Massimo Ambrosini and Kaká are available after injury and Milan captain Paolo Maldini is poised to become only the fifth player to feature in 100 UEFA Champions League matches.
Probable teams
Milan: Zeljko Kalac; Daniele Bonera, Dario Šimi?, Paolo Madini, Marek Jankulovski; Cristian Brocchi, Andrea Pirlo, Yoann Gourcuff; Kaká; Alberto Gilardino, Marco Borriello.
Lille: Grégory Malicki; Matthieu Chalmé, Nicolas Plestan, Rafael Schmitz, Grégory Tafforeau; Yohan Cabaye, Jean II Makoun; Kader Keita, Mathieu Bodmer, Mathieu Robail; Peter Odemwingie.
Milan is pretty much a strong team and should win this one easy. They are +115 probably due to the injuries. If you want to take a crazy shot go for Lille +195.
