Leao, Abraham and big chance dominance: All the key stats from Milan vs. Red Star

In partnership with

SempreMilan

·12 December 2024

Leao, Abraham and big chance dominance: All the key stats from Milan vs. Red Star

AC Milan left it late but they ultimately secured all three points against Red Star to continue their winning run in the Champions League.

Milan made it four wins in a row in the competition beating the Serbian side 2-1. Rafael Leao opened the scoring, Radonjic equalised in the second half and then Tammy Abraham netted a late winner after Francesco Camarda had hit the bar.

OneFootball Videos

The push for a top eight spot remains very much on with Girona (at home) and Dinamo Zagreb (away) still to come, but the fans left San Siro no doubt feeling more concerned if anything after another rough night.

The main numbers

Looking at the data paints a rather different picture of a game in which Milan struggled to assert dominance for large parts.

They may have edged the possession 52-48%, but in terms of Expected Goals (2.13 to 0.48) and big chances (4 to 0) it looks like a well-earned win.

Moreover, the Rossoneri outshot their opponents 20 to 9 in total, with 10 of those being on target compared to 4 for the away team. They also had more corners.

A first for Leao

Rafael Leão has scored in two consecutive Champions League matches for the first time in his career. The forward had never scored two goals in a single edition of this competition and had not scored in a home match in the tournament since 7 November 2023 (vs. Paris Saint-Germain).

Leão has scored 17 goals for Milan across all competitions in 2024: this is the most goals the Portuguese forward has scored in a single calendar year since joining the Rossoneri.

Both of the Portuguese winger’s goals in this edition of the Champions League have been assisted by Youssouf Fofana . In general, three of the Portuguese forward’s last four goals in all competitions have been set up by the Frenchman.

Positive form

Milan have won four consecutive Champions League matches for the first time since the period between February and April 2005 (five in that case). They have also risen up to 12th in the table.

Tammy Abraham has scored his second goal this Champions League season, his second in a row. Only in 2019-20 did the Englishman score more in a single edition of the tournament (three with Chelsea in that case).

It is Abraham’s fifth goal of the season since he has been at Milan, matching Alvaro Morata’s total despite having played fewer minutes (737 vs. 1096 for the Spaniard).