CM: The three positives to take for Milan despite defeat in Leverkusen | OneFootball

AC Milan may have come away with nothing from Leverkusen in terms of points, but there were some positive aspects from the performance which must be extracted and built upon.

As Calciomercato.com write, it was a first half where Bayer Leverkusen showed all of the intensity and quality that made them almost unbeatable last season, and a second half where Milan responded well and deserved to equalise after Victor Boniface’s goal in the 51st minute.

The Rossoneri created a number of opportunities and they did so because they looked so fluid in attack. Paradoxically, Milan are left with zero points and many regrets from the ‘best performance of the season so far’, in the words of Paulo Fonseca.

It must be remembered that Xabi Alonso has been working for over two years with a group of young, hungry and talented players, while Paulo Fonseca’s style will take time, application and a lot of work to reduce the gap with the best European teams.

The Milan dressing room was very disappointed for not having brought home even one point from the trip to Germany but there is also the awareness that the toughest games are in the front part of the new ‘big league’ phase.

There are at least three aspects to pick out that were positive: an evident growth from a defensive point of view, Mike Maignan back to exceptional levels and a style of play that is improving game after game. It is not such a sad night for Milan, if they can build from these things.