Former striker Oliver Bierhoff is confident that AC Milan will get through in the Champions League despite a rocky start, having been encouraged by what he saw against Bayer Leverkusen.
Milan fell to their second defeat in two games to begin their European campaign on Tuesday night against the German champions, but they can perhaps feel a bit unlucky to have not snatched a draw given the pressure in the second half.
The performance seems to have divided opinion, with Paulo Fonseca stating that it was the best of his time at the club so far while Zvonimir Boban disagreed, pointing out the fact that the home side were on top for 60 minutes and the Rossoneri created very little in that period.
Bierhoff spoke to La Gazzetta dello Sport to give an assessment of what he has seen from Milan so far in the Champions League and in particular during Tuesday’s game.
Let’s start with the Leverkusen defeat…
“I didn’t dislike Milan. Especially in the second half. In the end I think a draw would have been fairer. At least a draw…”
For an hour, however, Leverkusen dominated…
“Xabi Alonso’s team won the Bundesliga last season by a wide margin and drew with Bayern on Saturday in Munich. It’s normal to have difficulties when you’re up against a more experienced team that has a lot of possession and quality players.”