Champions League: Leverkusen vs Milan is the Hot Ticket this Week 

Bayer Leverkusen vs AC Milan

After another weekend of spectacular domestic football, European action is back on the agenda and Champions League: Bayer Leverkusen vs AC Milan is the pick of Tuesday’s matches.  

Xabi Alonso’s Bundesliga champions opened their European campaign with a thumping 4-0 win away to Feyenoord while Milan suffered an opening round loss at home to Liverpool, but I Rossoneri are beginning to click through the gears and come into this match with back-to-back league wins.

Head coach Paulo Fonseca took over at Milan in the summer, after two years at French side Lille and, after a slow start, his team is beginning to show signs they can challenge both in Italy and in Europe. And his side has an extra day to prepare for this huge clash, playing on Friday while Leverkusen had a gruelling 1-1 draw with Bundesliga giants FC Bayern on Saturday evening.    

 

Talking Points

Wirtz is firing for Bayer

Xabi Alonso put together a magical team to win the Bundesliga last year with quality running right through the squad… but he has a particularly bright shining star who everybody wants a piece of. Florian Wirtz was named the German league’s Player of the Season for 2023/24 and he followed that up by being Germany’s best player at Euro 2024, and all at the tender age of 21. Europe’s biggest clubs are already circling Leverkusen with a view to luring Wirtz away next summer; but it won’t be easy with reports in Germany suggesting his price tag will be around £150m, and he has a manager who matches his ambition, already delivering the biggest honour in Germany.         

Wirtz is an attacking midfielder or winger with electric pace and brilliant ball skills; and he is currently sitting second in the Bundesliga top scorers on four goals with only Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane above him, on five. And he bagged a brace in Leverkusen’s dismantling of Feyenoord in their Champions League opener.  

But, while Wirtz is part of an exciting attacking unit, Die Werkself’s face off with FC Bayern on Saturday night showed another side of Alonso’s team as they put in a stout defensive display to frustrate the Bavarians. Robert Andrich gave Leverkusen a first half lead but a stunning 25-yard volley from Pavlovic levelled the scores.

With only 30 per cent possession and three shots to Bayern’s 18 this was a real rear-guard operation, and Bayer limited their hosts to just three shots on target. They rode their luck a little as Serge Gnabry hit both the post and crossbar but Leverkusen were solid at the back with Jonathan Tah and Piero Hincapie keeping their hosts at arm’s length.   

 

Pulisic is in his prime

While Leverkusen have a young player with immense potential and already some impressive awards on his mantelpiece, I Rossoneri have a star who is entering his best years in football, USA captain Christian Pulisic who, at 26 years of age is playing the best football of his career. He has proven himself to be a prolific assist maker and, this season, Pulisic is finding the net with ease.       

Victory in the Derbi di Milano was a huge boost to I Rossoneri and they followed that up with a 3-0 win at home to Lecce on Friday, a result which took them up to second in the table, with all their rivals still to play this weekend.

Against Lecce, Christian Pulisic was on target to make it four league goals for the campaign and lift him to the top of the race for the Scudetto, and he has two assists in his locker too. He scored Milan’s goal against Liverpool as well as the Derbi and has now netted in five games in a row for the first time in his career. Chelsea owner Todd Boehly has made some odd decisions since he arrived at Stamford Bridge, but selling Pulisic to Milan for £20m must be the strangest of all! 

Milan know they will spend some time on the back foot in Leverkusen and they can rely on Matteo Gabbia and Fikayo Tomori, who have forged a strong partnership in defence with the experienced wingback Theo Hernandez a big presence at either end of the pitch.     

 

History

It’s a little surprising that these two teams have never encountered each other before and so, with no head to head Bayer Leverkusen vs AC Milan results to work on it is the early season form which might help us. 

Leverkusen have won four, drawn one and lost one of the last six games while Milan have won three, drawn one and lost two; but very recent momentum is with the Italians.  

 

Betting Tip

At 1.54 for a home win and 4.29 for an away victory the Bayer Leverkusen vs AC Milan betting odds are pointing towards more joy for the Germans and another Euro headache for the Italians.

But the Double Chance: Milan or Draw is at SBOTOP odds of 2.11. 2-3 goals is priced at 1.99 and the most likely score line is 2-1 to Bayer at 6.85; but, with that extra day to prepare, I think Milan will put in a typical Italian performance and chisel out a point in Leverkusen.

   

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