Leverkusen – Not as dominant as at the start, but successful again: Bayer Leverkusen also disenchanted the great AC Milan in the Champions League and took an important interim step towards the knockout round. Coach Xabi Alonso’s team defeated the seven-time winners of the European premier class 1-0 (0-0) on the second matchday. Victor Boniface (51st minute) scored the decisive goal for Bayer’s second win in the second preliminary round game.
“I think we had very good control today. With the ball and also against the ball,” said national player Florian Wirtz on DAZN. “We were the more dominant team with the clearer chances.”
This means that Leverkusen is at least a little ahead of the 19-time Italian title holders in the table of the reformed premier class and is in third place in the table for at least one night. Two weeks ago, the German champions started confidently with a 4-0 win in Rotterdam, while Milan lost 3-1 against Liverpool FC and is still waiting for their first point.
“It was a game at a very high level against a top team,” said Bayer defender Jonathan Tah. “I think we deserved to win in the end.”
Milan is making life difficult for Bayer
This time, however, Milan didn’t make it as easy as Feyenoord’s start to the Champions League for Florian Wirtz and Co. Although Bayer clearly dominated the game and had significantly more possession of the ball, the Rossoneri cleverly ran into the spaces and defended routinely. In addition, the AC kept pushing forward.
In the 21st minute, the Milan bulwark was only seemingly broken. Before Boniface’s supposed lead, Jeremie Frimpong was clearly offside. This happened again and again when Bayer came dangerously in front of the visitors’ goal, in which the Frenchman Mika Maignan did a good job. “At times it was a bit too much small and small, but we don’t have to complain, we won,” said Wirtz.
Bayer coach Alonso initially sacrificed national player Robert Andrich against the expected third place in the Serie A table. The defensive midfielder only scored for Bayer on Saturday in the Bundesliga summit at Bayern Munich. Against Milan, however, Aleix García, who was stronger offensively, played alongside Granit Xhaka in the double six. This time it worked better than last.
Lucky for Tapsoba after Wischer against Hernández
Leverkusen, however, were lucky after almost half an hour that Edmond Tapsoba’s impetuous and unnecessary grab in Theo Hernández’s face went unpunished.
After the change, the big Milan, about whom Alonso had warned before the game, initially withdrew far back and willingly gave Leverkusener the ball. This took revenge from the guests’ point of view, after a successful offensive move by Bayer, Boniface dusted off again and this time it counted the Nigerian’s sixth Champions League goal.
Only after the hosts’ deserved lead did Milan do more on the offensive again and push Leverkusen more and more into the defensive. Milan coach Paulo Fonseca brought in additional quality in the Spanish European Championship captain Álvaro Morata. There was also significantly more experience in the Milan squad: the visiting players had played a total of 457 Champions League games before the game, while the Leverkusen team only played 213 together.
Milan hit the crossbar in the final phase
Alonso reacted to Milan’s increasing pressure and brought in stabilizer Andrich. In addition, more space now naturally opened up for the Rhinelanders, who are strong in combinations. Frimpong, however, missed the great chance to make it 2-0 after a dream pass from Wirtz all too carelessly (76th). The hosts were lucky when a deflected shot from Hernández hit the crossbar in the 82nd minute and Milan’s final offensive yielded nothing.
Related News :