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The supposed dawn of a new era in the Champions League as they've got rid of the group stage. Now each team is playing 8 different opponents in the new League Stage. Rather than playing home and away, the draw means you only play half of them at home and the other half away. Your 'position' is in an overall league table that includes all the other teams in the competition. Finish high enough and gather enough points and you'll be straight into the Round of 16. If you don't manage that, there's another play-off stage for the chance to reach the knockouts proper. The format from the Round of 16 onwards is the more familiar two-legged ties. Our first game is a trip to the San Siro to take on a Milan side that also has a new manager. Stefano Pioli had seemingly been on borrowed time for a little while, and Milan finally replaced him with Paulo Fonseca in the summer. He's a coach that's had his name linked with several Premier League jobs in the past, not least Everton. The Blooshite orc army were not having it, daubing anti-Fonseca graffiti on the walls of Goodison. I'm not entirely sure why they were so against the appointment because he doesn't have any of the baggage that winds them up (calling Everton shite, having once been a Red etc). They ended up with Lampard, which I'm sure they were happy with simply on the basis that he once picked a fight with Jurgen. So Milan have a new coach, and brought in some familiar faces. We know about Morata, but they've also brought in Emerson Royal from Spurs and Youssouf Fofana from Monaco. Serie A clubs aren't averse to loaning players to and from direct rivals, so Milan have also brought in Tammy Abraham from Roma via such an arrangement. Rafael Leao is probably their real danger man but they've also got Cristian Pulisic in the side. He's one of those that either flatters to deceive or is out injured most weeks, but somehow becomes fit and available and turns into peak Eden Hazard any time we rock up. Big Div is still at Milan but has been banished to the reserves. He's such a strange player in that he has never shown anything in spells at Wolfsburg and Forest on loan, or after joining Milan. And yet he's a cult figure at Anfield because he's at the heart of so many important goals and moments under Jurgen. They are a side we mustn't take lightly even though they are nothing close to the stellar line-ups they could field up until Ancelotti left. We have a new situation of our own to deal with, after the first setback under Slot at the weekend. He and the players need to bounce back quickly as this is the second of 7 games in a 3-week period. I try to start these threads after Dave's match report of the last game but I needed to get this one out as part of getting past the Forest calamity in my own mind. Harvey is still out but the others should be available, including Fede who might get a debut. He'll be familiar with the San Siro and most of the Milan team. He has the tools to hurt them. Let's see if he can show it. I think Slot needs to start ringing some changes to keep the players fresh and sharpen a few minds. I've pointed it out before, but it's amazing how, since the 1965 semi final against Inter, we didn't face a single Italian side in Europe until the 1984 final against Roma. It goes some way to explaining why our European record in that period was so strong, because Italian teams were still a tough nut to crack back then. Istanbul was the first time we'd played AC Milan. It's a bit like at the World Cup where Brazil and Germany have had the two best records overall. Brazil have been at every World Cup, and the Germans had sat out the inaugural edition and were banned from the 1950 tournament but otherwise have always been there. It's wasn't until the 2002 World Cup final that the sides met for the first time. For cup games, I'm not listing the first home or away game under previous managers, but rather the first game overall. How did our previous managers fare first time around against the Rossoneri? Shankly...N/A Paisley...N/A Fagan...N/A Dalglish...N/A Souness...N/A Evans...N/A Houllier...N/A Benitez...25/05/2005...CL Final...AC Milan 3-3 (2-3p) Liverpool (Gerrard, Smicer, Alonso) Hodgson...N/A Dalglish...N/A Rodgers...N/A Klopp...15/09/2021...CL Group Stage...Liverpool 3-2 AC Milan (Tomori og, Salah, Henderson) I don't ask for much. Maximum motivation, control, application, attitude and concentration from minute one. 3 points please. Get it done!