Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso praised AC Milan ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League clash at the BayArena as he previewed a ‘historic’ game for the German club.
Milan lost their UCL opener 3-1 against Liverpool at home so there is pressure on to try and get a result to move up the new ‘big league’ that has come in since the start of this season, but they face a formidable opponent.
Leverkusen won the Bundesliga and German Cup last season without losing a game, and in fact the only match they lost all season was against Atalanta in the Europa League final (3-0 in Dublin) to deny them a treble.
Die Werkself have won three of their opening five league games this season and have scored 14 goals in the process. They won their Champions League debut 4-0 away at Feyenoord which was part of a three-game run where they scored at least four times. However, they have conceded 10 in five Bundesliga games.
Alonso spoke in his pre-match press conference on the eve of the game to discuss the form his side are in and what he expects from Milan, with his comments relayed by TMW.
What are you expecting tomorrow?
“We will face a great team, with individual quality. We will need our best performance on the pitch, but we are ready. There hasn’t been much time to prepare it but that’s fine.”
Do you have a game plan?
“Of course we have a game plan, then in 95 minutes anything can happen. We know our style of play and I don’t expect a game like the one against Bayern Munich, but we will be ready.”
