AC Milan head coach Paulo Fonseca will look to build on several positive aspects from the defeat against Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night, including Alvaro Morata’s performance.
As Calciomercato.com write, Milan might have zero points on the board after two Champions League games but with Slovan Bratislava, Red Star, Girona and Dinamo Zagreb – easier teams on paper, respectfully – they still believe in their chances of making the play-off round at least.
What things can be built on from the game against Germany? It is obvious to highlight how Milan regenerated following Morata’s introduction, after a first half in which struggled to build play and thus barely created anything.
When Victor Boniface made it 1-0 to the home team, it seemed to turn on the Rossoneri’s engines as did the decision to bring off Tammy Abraham for Morata in the 62nd minute. Milan became far more dangerous and that is not an indication of the Englishman’s failure but rather the merits of the Spaniard.
Morata has established himself as a leader since his arrival at Milan and in the 30 minutes he played against the German champions he showed his ‘courage, grit and passion’. Alvaro began to press high, encouraging the team to push up which generated more turnovers by Leverkusen in their own half.
With Abraham not on the field, the 31-year-old also had more opportunities to attack the space in behind and he was a constant threat to the defenders. All that his performance was missing was a goal, and he came close with a rebound header after Theo Hernandez had hit the bar.
His impact at Milan was immediate: he scored not long after coming on against Torino, was out for the games against Parma and Lazio (only one point obtained), had a run-out off the bench against Venezia, then was tactically decisive for the outcome of the derby won against Inter and opened the scoring against Lecce.
There is a Milan with and one without Morata and the contribution of the experienced striker will be fundamental throughout the course of the season, but the task Foneca faces is to find the right solutions when he is not on the field. In the meantime, the €13m man will try to carry the team on Sunday in Florence.