Celtic vs AC Milan preview, team news, kick-off

Team news and stats ahead of Celtic vs AC Milan in their opening Europa League group-stage game on Thursday; Kick-off 8pm.

• Europa League news | Fixtures | Tables
• British Champions League and Europa League squads

Team news

Ryan Christie is back in the Celtic squad following his period of quarantine but striker Odsonne Edouard will not be featuring.

The Frenchman has had a cardiac screening and blood tests but still has a final set of tests to pass. The striker could be back this weekend for the game with Aberdeen.

Nir Bitton and Hatem Elhamed are still unavailable due to coronavirus issues with James Forrest and Christopher Jullien still injured. but Diego Laxalt is available to play against his parent club.

AC Milan have won their opening four Serie A games but will be without their playmaker Hakan Calhanoglu after he left Tuesday's training on crutches after a suspected sprained ankle to be evaluated with new tests.

Profile: AC Milan

Celtic open their group campaign in eye-catching fashion, playing host to seven-time European Cup winners AC Milan.

Sixth in Serie A last year, the Rossoneri have not featured in the Champions League since 2013-14 and were not in European competition at all last term, serving a one-year ban for breaching UEFA's financial fair play rules.

The clubs have faced each other 10 times, with Milan recording six wins to Celtic's one, and the most recent meetings were during the group stage of the 2013-14 Champions League, with the Italians triumphing in both games.

The 39-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored five goals in three games so far this season.

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• Celtic and AC Milan have met on 10 previous occasions in major European competition, all of which in the European Cup/Champions League. Celtic have won just one of those meetings - a 2-1 victory in October 2007.
• AC Milan have won each of their last three meetings with Celtic by an aggregate score of 6-0.
• Celtic have won three of their last four Europa League home games (L1), as many victories as they managed in their previous 10 such matches at Celtic Park (D2 L5).
• AC Milan have won just one of their last four Europa League encounters (5-2 against F91 Dudelange in November 2018), conceding two or more goals in three of those fixtures.
• AC Milan's Hakan Çalhanoğlu has been directly involved in 10 goals (5 goals, 5 assists) in his last seven Europa League games (including qualifiers).

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