Champions League, Bayer Leverkusen-Milan 1-0: Boniface decides

Leverkusen (Germany), 1 October 2024 - After the bad home defeat against Liverpool, the path of Milan in Champions League resumes from BayArena di Leverkusen, the scene of the victory of the home team Bayer thanks to boniface, already on target in the first half but with a previous offside frimpong. The Rossoneri suffer a lot during the first half and in the initial part of the second half before trying to equalise. Vain attempts: between imprecision, saves of Hradecky and the crossbar hit by Hernandez, the result does not change anymore and leaves the band Fonseca still at zero.

The official lineups

  Alonso host one 4-2-3-1 that he sees between the posts Hradecky, protected by Tapsoba, Move, Hincapie e Grimaldo, in turn shielded by Jaca e Garcia: the only tip is boniface, assisted by frimpong, landlord e Judicial. Fonseca reply with a 4-3-2-1 open from maignan, XNUMX EmersonRoyal, Cage, Tumor ed Hernandez in defense: in midfield they are there Fofana, Reinders e Loftus Cheek, while behind Abraham they act Pulisic e Lion.  

First half

  Il Milan starts strong with Lion which opens for Reinders, which dawdles too much and gives time to the Bayer Leverkusen to close ranks in defense. The hosts immediately responded with boniface, which exceeds Cage and engages maignan, who takes refuge in the corner: from the developments of the corner kick Hincapie tries a header, but the Rossoneri goalkeeper responds. The Germans raise their centre of gravity and in the 10th minute send the ball to the goal Judicial, served by landlord: the parade ready for maignan is nullified by the offside signal. The Bayer Leverkusen try to put in several crosses: the first, of boniface and diverted from Cage, causes a corner that will not bear fruit, while the second, kicked by Grimaldo, is easy prey for maignan. At 18' Hernandez loses a bloody ball that arrives at frimpong, which goes towards boniface: Cage reads everything well in advance and takes refuge in the corner. At 21' the BayArena explodes for the network of boniface on cross by frimpong: the latter's offside dampens the joy of the home crowd and saves the Milan. In the 23st minute boniface, far from being discouraged by what happened shortly before, commits maignan from a distance: shortly after landlord he tries his hand from outside, but the shot is imprecise and a previous offside stops the action. Bayer he insists and in the 28th minute he collects a double chance first with a left-footed shot Grimaldo (for maignan) and then, on the continuation, with frimpong, who from an excellent position sends the ball over the crossbar. At 35' again Grimaldo, after a closed triangle with landlord, looks for the door, still finding the replica of maignan: soon after landlord set the table this time for Tapsoba, who fires a conclusion to forget. At 38' the usual landlord you see it getting dirty maignan his cue: the ball becomes good for frimpong, which misses the big target. The Milan suffers but at 38' he comes back into attack with Pulisic, which is challenging Hradecky on his post, while at 41' Judicial, served by Grimaldo, makes the gloves dirty again maignan before the referee Scharer you send the teams to the locker rooms: the score is 0-0 and it's definitely a deal for the Rossoneri.

Second half

The teams return to the field with the same players: there is also Abraham, despite a shoulder problem that occurred in the first half. The script of the match also does not change, with the Bayer continually flirting with the lead goal: in the 49th minute a miracle by maignan on the close range shot of landlord delays the joy of the home crowd by only 2 minutes, which explodes after the tap-in boniface on the previous save by the AC Milan goalkeeper on the attempted frimpong, in turn triggered by a backheel from Grimaldo. The Milan he doesn't accept it and immediately comes close to equalising on two occasions in quick succession: first he tries Reinders (for Hradecky) and then with Abraham, not very clear in the conclusion phase thus nullifying the great work of Lion. At 58' Fofana he explodes his right foot from distance, but his aim is imprecise. Even the Leverkusen continues to attack and in the 60th minute he does so with Jaca, which unleashes a powerful but off-target shot. Fonseca opens the wheel of substitutions by inserting Morata for Abraham. Fofana, among the liveliest of his, tries again from a distance, but Hradecky he is not surprised. The Milan he takes a lot of corner kicks and one of them, earned in the 72nd minute with a shot from Hernandez deviated from Garcia, see Pulisic looking for the Olympic goal: the home goalkeeper is attentive and protects his team's advantage. At 73' Fofana crosses for the head of Morata, which finds the replica of Hradecky before personally trying his hand at a strong pressure on the German defense that almost bears fruit. Given the difficulties of his team, Alonso he puts his hand to the bench: out boniface e Garcia It's inside Terrier e Andrich. In fact, the interruption of the game breaks the offensive inertia of the Milan: at 76' frimpong, served by an illuminated opening of landlord, does everything well at speed except finishing. Fonseca throw into the fray Chukwueze for Pulisic: on the other side to enter is Palacios for Judicial. At 82' Hernandez, almost out of nowhere, the left-footer explodes: the crossbar says no to him and on the rebound Morata with his head he sends it out. The Rossoneri insist and in the 87th minute they become dangerous with Loftus Cheek, which turns towards the door of an attentive Hradecky the free kick taken by Reinders. Alonso inserts Belocian e Tella for Grimaldo e landlord just as the referee Scharer assign 4' recovery that do not change the substance: the winner is Bayer, while the Milan he chews bitterly not without regrets.