Sampdoria will host AC Milan at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Thursday night at 21:00 in the Round of 16 in the Coppa Italia.
Samp will be playing in their first cup fixture for the 2015/16 season but the Rossoneri have already made their first appearance in this season’s competition.
Sinisa Mihajlovic’s side played against Serie B side Crotone in the fourth round two weeks ago and they won 3-1 after extra time.
Both Doria and Milan drew in their latest league fixtures; the Rossoneri held 1-1 against Hellas Verona on Sunday while the Blucerchiati avoided defeat for the first time in Vincenzo Montella’s reign as coach by drawing away to Lazio by the same score on Monday night.
They played against each other recently in the league and the Rossoneri were dominant in their 4-1 win against a woeful Blucerchiati. The last time Sampdoria defeated AC Milan was on the opening day of the 2012/13 Serie A season when a solitary goal from Andrea Costa gave Il Doria the 1-0 win at the Stadio Meazza.
Last season’s Coppa was not a great one for both squads. Sampdoria were eliminated by Inter in the Round of 16 when they lost 2-0 to the Nerazzurri and AC Milan lost 1-0 to Lazio in the quarter-finals.
The Rossoneri have not reached the Coppa Italia final since they won it in 2003 whereas the Blucerchiati’s most recent final took place back in 2009, when they lost to Lazio on penalties. Sampdoria’s last Coppa Italia triumph was back in 1994 when they smashed Ancona 6-1 on aggregate.
AC Milan will be missing Luca Antonelli with an adductor muscle injury, Diego Lopez with a knee injury and Jeremy Menez still has back problems. Sampdoria will still be missing Serbian midfielder Nenad Krsticic but Eder should return after missing the Lazio game with a muscle injury.
Form Guide: Sampdoria (D-L-L-L-L-D) AC Milan (D-L-W-W-D-D)
Expected Starting XIs
Sampdoria: Viviano; De Silvestri, Moisander, Zukanovic, Regini; Carbonero, Palombo, Barreto; Soriano; Cassano, Eder.
AC Milan: Donnarumma; De Sciglio, Alex, Romagnoli, Antonelli; Cerci, Montolivo, Poli, Bonaventura; Bacca, Luiz Adriano.
