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Xabi Alonso arrived at Bayer Leverkusen as a magic man, and under his coaching, Bayer Leverkusen had an unbelievable season last year. Bayer Leverkusen won the Bundesliga for the very first time, and they made it by being unbeaten for the entire season. As a result, the Alonso boys have qualified for the Champions League and made a great start already.
They have started their journey in the Champions League with a dominating 4-0 win over Feyenoord. However, Bayer Leverkusen have a massive test tonight as they will take on Italian giants AC Milan at Bay Arena.
AC Milan, on the other hand, failed to make a solid start. They were humiliated by Liverpool at their own stadium, San Siro. Despite scoring a very early goal, AC Milan failed to keep the lead and lost the match by a 1-3 margin at San Siro.
Milan boss Paulo Fonseca said, “It’ll be a similar match like we played against Liverpool, we have to continue being strong in defence, a phase in which the team has grown. This is a good test to evaluate our defensive capabilities at the moment, to beat a good team like Bayer, we will need to be perfect at the back.”
Stats & Facts
- It will be the first Champions League meeting between Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan.
- Bayer Leverkusen have won only two of their 12 Champions League matches against Italian clubs. They lost six and tied the remaining four games.
- Meanwhile, AC Milan have lost only one of their previous eight meetings with German clubs in the UCL.
- Bayer Leverkusen have not lost any of their last nine home games in European competitions. It would be the first time they would go 10 matches unbeaten in European stages.
- A win over AC Milan would see Bayer Leverkusen winning the first two Champions League games in a row for the first time since the 2001-2002 season.
Bayer Leverkusen VS AC Milan: Team News
Xabi Alonso made five changes during the high-voltage match against Bayern Munich. However, the manager is likely to recall several players ahead of tonight’s game. Robert Andrich scored the only goal against Bayern Munich on Saturday, but he has to fight with Aleix Garcia and Exequiel Palacios to secure a spot in the starting XI.
Florian Wirtz will be a trump card for Xabi Alonso, having been involved in 24 goals in his 26 appearances in European competitions.
As for AC Milan, they will miss the service of Marco Sportiello, Ismael Bennacer, and Alessandro Florenzi due to their respective injuries, while Davide Calabria is uncertain ahead of tonight’s match.
Rafael Leao will lead the attack for AC Milan along with Christian Pulisic and Tammy Abraham.
Possible Lineup for Bayer Leverkusen:
Hradecky; Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie; Frimpong, Andrich, Xhaka, Grimaldo; Terrier, Wirtz; Boniface
Possible Lineup for AC Milan:
Maignan; Emerson, Tomori, Gabbia, Hernandez; Fofana, Reijnders; Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao; Abraham
Prediction: Leverkusen 2-1 AC Milan
Xabi Alonso has built a balanced squad that fears no one. Despite being a young team, Bayer Leverkusen fought neck to neck against big names. As the home side, they will have tremendous support from the gallery.
AC Milan’s defensive weakness is also evident. They scored early against Liverpool but conceded three goals in this match. Therefore, it will be really difficult for the Rossonerri to keep a clean sheet against Bayer Leverkusen.
Betfair Odds
Leverkusen: 1.67
Draw: 4.32
AC Milan: 5.00
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