AC Milan Technical Director Paolo Maldini has suggested that there is an element of fear at the club ahead of their trip to Tallaght on Thursday evening.
Paolo Maldini is arguably the most iconic of all the great names who have passed through the doors at AC Milan, having racked up a record 902 appearances for the club between 1984 and 2009. However, despite winning seven Serie A titles and five European Cups, the former defender reckons Shamrock Rovers will provide a stern test when the two clubs meet in the Europa League second qualifying round on Thursday.
Speaking ahead of the game, Maldini said to Sky Italia: "It's a game that scares us a lot. Rovers are a team that are doing well, first in their league, and we have some injury problems."
Stephen Bradley's Rovers side are indeed top of the Premier Division table at the moment, eight points clear of Dublin rivals Bohemians in second place. While their main motivation before the season started was to win a first league title since 2011, taking a scalp of a club the size of AC Milan would be no mean feat.
With the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in their squad, the Rossoneri will start as overwhelming favourites and a Rovers win is priced at 22/1 with one bookie. However, with some momentum behind them from their league campaign and Milan's aforementioned injury problems, you just never know.
The game will be
shown live on Thursday night from 7pm on RTE 2.
(header pic: Shutterstock)
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