AC Milan breezed to a comfortable 2-0 victory over BATE Borisov at the San Siro on Wednesday to keep pace with Barcelona at the top of Champions League Group H.

Goals from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kevin Prince Boateng ensured an easy night's work for the rossoneri.

It also means both the team and the Spanish defending champion can qualify for the knockout stages with victory in their next matches in two weeks time.

It means the crucial clash between the pair at the San Siro on Nov 23 should decide who tops the group.

Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri is already thinking about it.

"It was an important win tonight to help with qualification. We still need points, but our aim is to be playing Barcelona for first place - that would be an important result for the subsequent draw," he told SkySport. "When things seem easy the team always relaxes a bit too much.

"I'm very happy, although in the first half we didn't play with pace but rather rushed things too much - that's why we missed so many chances which we could have exploited."

Such was Milan's comfort zone that it even managed to give French centerback Philippe Mexes a short run on his injury comeback.

Allegri had said the day before the game that a win was vital to keep on Barca's heels and his side seemed to have taken note.

AFP