Thiago Silva to Miss Milan Champions League Match Against Auxerre

The thigh muscle injury that Brazilian defender Thiago Silva picked up in AC Milan's Saturday loss to Cesena has not healed and he will miss Wednesday's Champions League opening match against Auxerre.

Silva was replaced at halftime after getting injured in the first half of Saturday's upset.

Massimiliano Allegri is expected to start Daniele Bonera alongside center back Alessandro Nesta in the middle of the defense.

Meanwhile, Filippo Inzaghi is one of five attackers chosen for the match by Allegri, along with Ronaldinho, Robinho, Pato, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Inzaghi has scored 68 goals in UEFA competition, which includes the Champions League, UEFA Cup/Europa League, and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and is hoping to tie and break Gerd Muller's all time UEFA record of 69 goals.

"Above all, it's important to start well against Auxerre," the 37 year old said. "I care about it a lot. I would like to equal Muller's record in front of my fans. I want to score to make Milan win."

Inzaghi also pointed out that he is not the only one in striking distance of the record. While Inzaghi will get his chance tomorrow, Schalke 04 striker Raul will be aiming at the record tonight when his side take on Olympique Lyonnais. Raul is also on 68 goals, with an incredible 66 of them being scored in the Champions League whilst playing for Real Madrid.

It is very possible that very soon, two players will have passed Gerd Muller and his long standing record.

Wednesday will be more about recovery for Milan, however, as the club will be looking to bounce back from that shock loss to Cesena. They will be hoping for the new front line of Ronaldinho, Pato, and Ibrahimovic with Robinho and Inzaghi on the bench can mold together and prove to be a deadly attack that buckles Europe at its knees.

Allegri has called up 19 players for his Champions League squad. Silva and Mathieu Flamini are unavailable due to injury while Marek Jankulovski, Massimo Oddo, and Sokratis have been left off the squad. Alessandro Nesta and Clarence Seedorf return after missing the Cesena match with injury.

The 19 players are as follows:

GK:

Christian Abbiati

Marco Amelia

Flavio Roma

DF:

Luca Antonini

Danielle Bonera

Alessandro Nesta

Gianluca Zambrotta

Mario Yepes

MF:

Ignazio Abate

Massimo Ambrosni

Kevin-Prince Boateng

Gennaro Gattuso

Andrea Pirlo

Clarence Seedorf

FW:

Filippo Inzaghi

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Ronaldinho

Robinho

Alexandre Pato