Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 AC Milan: Five things we learned – Fofana finally arrives

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·2. Oktober 2024

Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 AC Milan: Five things we learned – Fofana finally arrives

After a disastrous start to their Champions League campaign, AC Milan stabilised themselves with some positive performances domestically. With confidence growing, the Rossoneri aimed to get their first points in Europe but it was never going to be easy against Bayer Leverkusen in Germany.

Indeed, it turned out to be a bit overwhelming for Milan, and they really struggled in the first hour of the game as they were mostly defending and trying to soak in the pressure. This eventually resulted in Leverkusen getting a deserved goal 51 minutes in.

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After that goal, the Rossoneri actually woke up and started creating chances, but they failed to convert. It is fair to suggest that the Diavolo should’ve at least gotten a draw out of the game because even though they were on the back foot for the first hour, they managed to create enough to get something out of the game.

The game ended up being rather frustrating to watch with the Rossoneri showing lots of positives in the final half-hour. However, this narrative of playing well for short periods in such big games is becoming a frustration – if it was not already as it has been the case for a few years now.

Once again, Milan failed to reach the level required and questions have to be asked about whether the Diavolo can compete with the best European teams for a whole game.

Regardless, given the poor start and the opponent, we did see some interesting things in this game, but more is required and Fonseca has little room for errors in the rest of the Champions League fixtures.

So without further ado, here are five observations from the game itself:

1. Maignan, unfortunately, not enough

Mike Maignan was easily the MOTM in our post-game ratings – he made several important saves to keep Milan in the game and was unlucky on the goal as the ball rebounded in Boniface’s feet, he is not to blame for this, though.

It is another case where the Frenchman has proved his value in a big game, and once again, he showed he is a true leader at the back. His distribution deserves a mention too as it started some interesting attacks.

Hopefully, he stays injury-free and continues to be a crucial piece of the Milan defence, as he proved how crucial he can be, even if the Diavolo were on the wrong side of the result.

📊 The stats from the loss against Bayer Leverkusen
– Dienstag, 1. Oktober 2024

2. Defence performed well, all things considered

It’s probably weird to pick out defensive positives from a loss, but Leverkusen were, and probably are one of the best teams in Europe. With this in mind, they were always going to create some chances, especially when playing in Germany.

Therefore, credit has to be given to the Diavolo – they defended well, keeping a tight line which caught the Leverkusen players in an offside position on a few occasions, and for the majority of the game the defence seemed focused and did well with players doing their work at the back well. Youssouf Fofana also deserves a mention for shielding the defence well.

3. The Attack failed their teammates

The defensive display was quite good from Milan, so it’s rather frustrating that the issues came from the attack – an area where we should’ve seen better efficiency, especially given the Rossoneri had managed to score 9 goals in the last 3 games before Tuesday.

In the first half the attack barely produced anything – barring a few Leao moments, but he too was disappointing when it came to the final third.

Tijjani Reijnders had a good game, but by his standards, his ball control failed him a couple of times. The most notable occasion was where he should’ve scored as he went through the defence before failing to release a shot. In games like this nobody is going to wait for you, and unfortunately for the Diavolo, the Dutchman now knows that.

Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images

When Morata came off the bench he did well to bring energy to the pitch, but then when he had the chance to make the most of a rebound from Theo’s shot he failed to at least hit the target.

Creating those chances is hard enough against a compact team, and Milan need to start finishing them off if they want to fight for trophies. In many ways, this is exactly why some fans were not happy with the Morata and Abraham signings since they’re not exactly poachers that score 20+ goals a season.

However, we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt as they’ve not disappointed thus far.

4. Fofana has arrived

Suggesting that we might have witnessed the best game in red and black from Fofana since joining in the summer transfer window is certainly not outrageous. He commanded the midfield and in the second half, he involved himself with the attack more, showcasing that he can shoot and beat players and overall, help his side create a few chances.

On top of that, he continued to be solid defensively, helping his team not trail by more than a goal and it was a very impressive performance with him finally showing what he’s all about – albeit the delay in his ‘arrival’ so to speak was expected.

Assuming this wasn’t a one-off, Fonseca should be really happy with what he saw against Leverkusen and Fofana will indeed be a key piece for this Milan squad. This will then allow the likes of Reijnders to focus on attacking whilst the Frenchman helps lock the defence.

5. Same old Chukwueze

The Nigerian is an enigma at this point as he had the occasional good moment last year, but never managed to find continuity. With Fonseca’s arrival, we saw the coach trusting the winger in pre-season, and in fairness, Chukwueze repaid him with some very good performances throughout the summer.

Since the start of the season, though, we have been witnessing the same Chukwuze that was seen throughout the whole of last season – a player failing to beat his man, despite clearly possessing the pace and dribbling abilities, and in general, failing to make any impact whatsoever.

Against Leverkusen, he couldn’t even cross the ball and offered nothing as it seemed like every Milan attack was doomed when the ball was at his feet. At this rate, the management probably needs to think about how to get the highest transfer value they can for him and look for a proper deputy to Pulisic.