Fonseca: ‘Best performance from my Milan, penalty denied in Leverkusen’ | OneFootball

Paulo Fonseca insists the 1-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen was ‘the performance I liked the most’ since becoming Milan coach and feels they were denied a last-gasp penalty.

The Rossoneri are still without a single point after two Champions League games, having lost 3-1 at home to Liverpool and 1-0 away to Bayer Leverkusen.

Mike Maignan had kept them in the game until Victor Boniface eventually bundled in the rebound from a Jeremie Frimpong effort.

It was only after this that Milan really woke up and pushed the German title holders, coming close when Theo Hernandez thumped the bar and Alvaro Morata steered the header wide.

Fonseca feels it was his best Milan performance

“It’s true that we didn’t win, but it was the performance I liked the most since I arrived here,” insisted Fonseca on Sky Sport Italia.

“Above all in the second half, we had a fantastic performance, we created so many chances and just failed to convert them, which is not easy against a team like Bayer.

“We were sad in the dressing room, but we must also be balanced and recognise what we did. I am not satisfied with the result, but I am satisfied with the approach.”

Why did the Rossoneri sit so deep in the first half compared to the second?

“Bayer have a very strong positional game, the first half was difficult for us and we closed down the central spaces, but they created problems combining primarily on the right flank. Within those difficulties, we defended well.”

Was the struggle in that area because Rafael Leao did not give Theo Hernandez enough help tracking back?

“It’s always the same problem people are trying to create,” laughed Fonseca. “I realise that it’s tough for Rafa to track back, but I think the other side had more problems. Leverkusen didn’t find the central spaces, so they moved it down the wings and that is one of their strengths.

“It’s true that we need to give more support to our full-backs in general.”

There were complaints in stoppages when Ruben Loftus-Cheek seemed to be caught right on the line of the penalty area by Piero Hincapie, but the referee and VAR waved play on.

“What is strange for me is that VAR did not intervene. It’s on the line, so it has to be a penalty,” insisted Fonseca.

“They didn’t even look at the situation. I felt during the game that the referee had no doubts taking decisions against us. I don’t like to talk about referees, but this was what happened.”

Milan have no points, but their Champions League calendar next has Club Brugge at home, Real Madrid and Slovan Bratislava away, Crvena Zvezda (who lost 4-0 to Inter this evening) and Girona at home, then Dinamo Zagreb away.