5 reasons why Bayer Leverkusen will beat AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League
Bayer Leverkusen returned to the Champions League with a comprehensive 4-0 win over Feyenoord. Things step up a level with seven-time winners AC Milan next on Matchday 2, but here are five reasons why those heading to the BayArena can be confident…
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1) Alonso’s Champions League pedigree
Leverkusen head coach Xabi Alonso may have made the Europa League final in his first full season in management, but that doesn’t mean his brilliance has been restricted to Europe’s second-tier competition. The 42-year-old had three Champions League matches under his belt in his first half-season with Leverkusen before the recent 4-0 win over Feyenoord, but he has far more experience of the big time as a player than as a coach.
Watch: Xabi Alonso and Bayer Leverkusen - back in the UCL
With a whopping 119 appearances in the competition as a midfield metronome, Alonso is 23rd on the all-time list thanks to his stints with Real Sociedad, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. With Madrid he won one of his two titles, stepping up to help Los Blancos finally win ‘La Decima’, their tenth title, after 12 years of trying and failing. His other success came with Liverpool in the most remarkable final the competition has ever seen, coming from 3-0 down to beat who else but Milan, his next opponent, in 2005.
2) Italian (revenge) job
Leverkusen’s incredible 2023/24 season saw their only defeat come in the Europa League final against another Serie A opponent, Atalanta. They won every other match as they picked up a first-ever Bundesliga title and second DFB Cup, but that match remains a sore point. Leverkusen were left shocked as Ademola Lookman ran riot with a hat-trick in a 3-0 win, and much of the international media suggested he got his tactics wrong against a coach 24 years his senior in Gian Piero Gasperini. Alonso and Leverkusen now have the chance to prove that the match was a blip and not any indication that a league utterly obsessed with tactics may have the upper hand.
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3) Hit them where it Wirtz
If Milan are going to stop Leverkusen, they have the near-impossible task of keeping Florian Wirtz quiet for 90 minutes, a factor that may instantly make the home side favourites. In seven appearances this season the 2023/24 Bundesliga Player of the Season has six goals and an assist. Aged 21 with the world at his feet, the Germany regular is becoming an attacking powerhouse, and whether he’s on the end of a cross or dribbling into the box, everything seems to pull the ball into the net. Milan have already conceded 10 goals in six games this season and may not have faced anything quite like Wirtz.
Watch: The best of Florian Wirtz
4) Buoyed by Bayern battle
Leverkusen shone in their 1-1 Matchday 5 Bundesliga draw with Bayern Munich, but not in the way that Bundesliga fans are used to seeing. And it's the atypical nature of this performance that will have Milan boss Paulo Fonseca worried; Alonso concocted the perfect strategy to tame a brilliant Bayern side and his players carried it out to a tee, eschewing their customary attack-minded style for a steely and compact defensive one that effectively muzzled the Bavarians' many threats. There can be little doubt that the Leverkusen boss is cooking up a brand-new plan, tailored to the Italian giants' specific strengths and weaknesses, and that his side will be ready to execute it, brimming with confidence for this clash in front of their own fans at the BayArena.
Watch: Highlights from Bayern Munich 1-1 Leverkusen
5) Grimpong!
While Milan will be looking to address the dangers posed by Florian Wirtz in attack and Granit Xhaka in the middle of the park, they cannot afford to ignore Alonso's deadly wing-back pairing of and Alejandro Grimaldo and Jeremie Frimpong, a.k.a. Grimpong! One of the driving forces behind Leverkusen's league-and-cup double and run to the Europa League final last season - with an incredible 39 Bundesliga goals and assists between them - Spain's Grimaldo and the Netherlands' Frimpong are triple threats, taking and making goals while also helping keep it tight at the back. Grimaldo is also no slouch with a dead ball, having struck superb free-kicks against Mainz and Bayern last season, while Frimpong's pace wasa key factor in his notching a goal involvement every 140 minutes in 2023/24.
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