Thursday night's Europa League brings together two clubs from two cities who both wear red and black. And that's not all, both clubs were founded by Englishmen in 1899. But from there, the two clubs have had a very different history. While AFC Bournemouth have spent most of their years playing in the lower divisions of English football, AC Milan are one of the top clubs in both Italy and Europe. Milan have seven Champions League trophies, while this is Bournemouth's very first time ever playing in any UEFA competition. Milan did play a friendly at Bournemouth about 10 years ago, which actually got pretty exicting. Their fortunes may be different, but there is a connection in this, a tale of two clubs.
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| The friendly away to Bournemouth 10 years ago ended with a Milan 2-1 win. |
Bournemouth are the Cherries, a nickname given them due to their stadium's close proximity to the cherry orchards of the Cooper-Dean estate. Also, because their traditional kits were cherry red with white. However, in 1970, they had been relegated for the first time in their history, and wanted some fresh inspiration. They took it from AC Milan, the club that had just won the European Cup in 1969, and for the first time wore red and black kits inspired by the Italian champions. Now, they will face the team that inspired their black and red striped kits in their inaugural season of the Europa League.
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| Justin Kluivert has literal Milan DNA in him. |
And that is not even where their connections end. Both are owned by Americans, Milan, obviously by RedBird Capital, while Bournemouth are owned by a consortium of investors called Black Knight Football Club, which has stakes in or owns a number of other sports franchises as well. Amongst the minority owners in that group is the famous actor Michael B. Jordan. Not only that, but the son of former AC Milan star Patrick Kluivert, Justin Kluivert, now plays for Bournemouth.
AFC Bournemouth are in the Europa League this season after finishing sixth place in the Premier League last season. However, this season, they come into this match in 15th place. And yet they won both of their Europa League matches thus far, including last week's 3-0 victory over Sturm Graz. Their most recent match was their first league win of the season, a 2-0 win over Sunderland this past Sunday. For that match, manager Marco Rose lined up a 4-1-4-1 with Petrović; Adam Smith, James Hill, António Silva, Truffert; Tyler Adams; Rayan, Ryan Christie, Lewis Cook, Tavernier; and Evanilson. Of his UEFA Europa League squad, Rose will be missing both Alex Scott and Julian Araujo to injury.
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| Amorim will be putting his trust in young players for this one once again. |
Milan lost Gabbia and Saelemaekers to long term injuries, then came Pietro Terracciano's shoulder injury. Now, suddenly, Chukwueze has a problem, as does Ramos, both reportedly to miss this one with minor injuries. This means Amorim will have five players out of his UEFA Europa League squad against Bournemouth. The match coincidentally falls on Cisse's 20th birthday, and Amorim said that he will play vs. Bournemouth. Other than that, Amorim likes to surprise with his starting lineups, but there are those who are still bold enough to try to guess.
It is curious that Milan's downfall really began around 2015, which was the same time Bournemouth were finally promoted to the Premier League. Odd, too, that Milan would be the one to have lost a Europa League match, whilst Bournemouth has a perfect record thus far. And yet Bournemouth are excited to play such a "big" club like Milan. I mean, Milan did move up the table to fourth place in Serie A with their win on Sunday, but this match could really go either way. The connections between the teams are truly fascinating, a tale of two clubs.
This post inspired by the music of The Cocteau Twins' "Cherry-Coloured Funk"
Thursday, October 22 • 21:00 CEST (3pm EDT)
Milan Futuro vs. Club Milano
Sunday, October 25 • 14:30 CEST (8:30am EDT)*
Sunday, October 25 • 20:45 CET (3:45 EDT)*
Reviewed by Elaine
on
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