Rafael Leao is determined to silence his critics when AC Milan seek to overturn a 1-0 deficit in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Roma.

Leao came in for criticism after last week’s first match, but showed a much better version of himself as Milan fought back from two goals down to take a 3-3 draw at relegation-battling Sassuolo on Sunday.

The 24-year-old forward, who scored Milan’s first goal, recognises he needs to bring more consistency to his game.

“I hope to help my team,” Leao told Milan TV.

“If I don’t score a goal, I hope to play well and win. This is the most important thing, to move forward.

“After the first leg, where I didn’t do very well, I was disappointed and with Sassuolo I wanted to give the right answer. If I make a mistake, I always try to come back even stronger, to learn from my mistakes.

“I found the joy of doing well and helping my team-mates. I want to play better now. We know the comeback is possible. We have to start strong, try to score in the first few minutes and then play like a final.”

Goalkeeper Mike Maignan is expected to return in goal after sitting out Sunday’s match as a precaution, but Simon Kjaer is a doubt after suffering a muscle injury in that match. Both he and fellow defender Pierre Kalulu missed training on Wednesday.

Gianluca Mancini struck in the 17th minute as Roma took an impressive 1-0 victory at the San Siro last week, carrying on their good form since Daniele De Rossi replaced Jose Mourinho in the hotseat.

The 2022 Europa Conference League champions came ever so close to making it back-to-back titles after they were defeated on penalties in last year’s Europa League showpiece and are 90 minutes away from another semi-final.

But De Rossi knows AC Milan are far from beaten as they prepare for the second leg in Rome.

As quoted on romapress.net, he said: “Milan? They will fight with everything they have. This is their last resort, they want to win and achieve one of their objectives for the season. It will be difficult.

“There are characteristics of the opponent that must always be respected and you need to think about the opponent’s coach’s moves. The first leg with Milan was quite balanced, perhaps it went a little better for us. Milan won’t change their tactics too much, but we must not overthink our own gameplan.

“We will prepare the match to win it, to try to score a goal which would be a blow for them even if it might not be decisive.

“Milan are a very strong team, they are better than us, but in the first leg we showed that we are not that much inferior and I told my team that we can play for it. We are one step away from an important milestone such as a European semi-final.”

AC Milan will be without Pierre Kalulu and Fikayo Tomori for the Europa League visit to Rennes.

The Rossoneri put one foot in the last 16 with a 3-0 win over the French side in last week’s first leg.

Both players are on the way back from long-term injuries but are not ready for Thursday’s match, though might make the weekend clash with Atalanta.

Boss Stefano Pioli said on Milan TV: “It’s clear that Kalulu and Tomori haven’t trained with us for a long time, so getting them back will be very important.

“They won’t be available for tomorrow night, if anything we’ll see for Sunday. It’s clear that we were happy to have some important players back in the group.”

Piolo stressed that the tie is not over, despite Milan’s dominance in the first leg.

“We approach it with great concentration, great desire to pass this round,” he said.

“It is clear that we took a good lead in the first game but it is equally true that we cannot consider it over.

“We are playing against a team that, despite changing five or six players, won in the league match.

“We know each other well, both us and them. That can be an advantage but we can also expect different things because they will try to come back.

“We are just focused on what we have to do to get through the round.

“Their verticality, their speed for sure and also their positions, in the first leg they tried to put us in trouble with different positions than we thought.

“We can also expect something different tomorrow night. It’s a fast team, it’s a quality team that absolutely will not raise the white flag easily.

“We will have to be good at reading the game with great attention, with great conviction, managing well and trying to hit the opponents.”

AC Milan defender Pierre Kalulu has had surgery and is expected to be out of action for around four months.

The 23-year-old centre-half ruptured a thigh muscle in last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Serie A rivals Napoli and had an operation to repair the damage on Thursday.

Milan said on their official website: “AC Milan can confirm that Pierre Kalulu underwent surgery today to repair a complete rupture of his left rectus femoris tendon.

“The operation, which was carried out in Finland by Professor Lasse Lempainen in the presence of AC Milan’s head of medical team, Stefano Mazzoni, was a complete success.

“His expected recovery time is estimated to be around four months.”

Kalulu is in his fourth season with Milan after joining from Lyon in 2020.

He made his first start in Serie A this season at Napoli on Sunday after three substitute appearances, but sustained the injury in the 19th minute.

AC Milan head coach Stefano Pioli insists his side are full of confidence as they look to get their first Champions League Group F win at Borussia Dortmund.

The Rossoneri, last season’s semi-finalists, were held to a goalless draw at home by Newcastle in their opening match, while Dortmund lost away to Paris St Germain.

Pioli’s team, though, have since won three straight Serie A games, with their only defeat so far this season a 5-1 loss to city rivals Inter.

Defeat in Paris is Dortmund’s sole loss from eight games in all competitions – and Pioli is expecting a vociferous atmosphere when AC Milan run out at the Westfalenstadion on Wednesday night

“Our recent wins in the league have given us confidence but now, tomorrow is all that matters,” Pioli told a press conference.

“Two years ago, when we played at Anfield, we were probably a bit afraid. But after a journey in Europe like ours, we’re able to compete in the competition and with atmospheres like this.

“We need to play with the right mentality and do all we can to try to win. The game is important in the group but there’s a long way to go, regardless of the outcome tomorrow. It won’t be decisive but the result will definitely matter.”

Pioli also highlighted Dortmund’s incredible home record in the Champions League.

He added: “They’ve not lost at home in the Champions League in almost two years.

“Dortmund play attacking football; they’re quick and have a lot of quality. We’ll need to be intelligent enough to attack the spaces and control the game at various moments.

“BVB are backed by a fantastic home support; we’ve spoken about these little details in training to be in the best shape possible for tomorrow evening.”

AC Milan look set to be without English midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who went off during the first half of Saturday’s Serie A win over Lazio with a groin problem.

French defender Pierre Kalulu has missed the last five games with a thigh injury, while midfielder Rade Krunic is also out with a similar issue and not expected to return until after the international break later in October.

Dortmund won 3-1 at Hoffenheim on Friday night before turning their attention back on the Champions League.

Despite having three victories from their last four games in all competitions, Dortmund coach Edin Terzic wants his side fully focussed on the challenge ahead.

“It will be a completely different game to the one against Paris (in the opening group game),” Terzic told a press conference.

“We have to be braver when we don’t have the ball. Milan have a different way of playing, but we have introduced a lot of good things in the last few games that will be crucial again.

“At this level, no game will be easy, but we have our first home game, with our guys and the fans in the stadium, so we want to get our first win tomorrow.”

Dortmund midfielder Marcel Sabitzer is closing in on a return from an adductor problem suffered against PSG, but the Austrian is not expected to be involved on Wednesday night.