Milan-Tottenham, only one knockout in 14 previous matches on Valentine’s Day

Does Tottenham scare you? Of course they do, but if Milan look at the cabal perhaps tonight they will enter the field a little more relaxed: in fact, in the 14 official matches played on Valentine’s Day, the Rossoneri have the numbers in their favour: only 1 knockout (for the rest 5 wins and 8 draws).

the joys

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Memorable was the semi-final of the Italian Cup against Naples which was staged on February 14, 1990 at the San Paolo. The match ended 3-1 in favor of the Diavolo, who emerged victorious with a brace from Massaro and a goal from Van Basten. Even in Serie A, Valentine’s Day brought good luck to Milan: the most recent matches include the 2-1 victory against Genoa in the 2015/16 season with goals from Bacca and Honda, and against Bologna in 2014 , 1-0 signed by Balotelli, both played at San Siro, while the oldest successes date back to 1999 again in Milan against Venice for 2-1 with goals from Guglielminpietro and Ganz and in 1965 against Turin away, also 1 -2, with the Brazilian signatures of Amarildo and José Altafini. Eight were instead the draws, of which we remember the 1-1 in 1993 in Bergamo, the double 1-1 against Sampdoria, once at San Siro (1954) and the other at Marassi (1971), and the 2-2 against Roma at the Olimpico in 1960, resulting in a streak of positive results in the next 5 games, including the 5-3 victory against Inter. The other draws date back to 1988 against Ascoli away (1-1), to 1943 against Vicenza at San Siro (1-1) and against Sampierdarenese, also in Milan, in 1937 (2-2). There is also a precedent in the Champions League, in the 2001 match against PSG which finished 1-1.

THE FALSE STEP

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In this series of positive statistics, however, there is only one negative. The only defeat in Milan’s history on Valentine’s Day dates back to 1982, when Trapattoni’s Juventus, at the Comunale di Torino, defeated the Diavolo on matchday 19 of Serie A 3-2: the match was decided by a hat-trick from a devastating Galderisi ( Collovati and Antonelli scored for the Rossoneri).