AC Milan lacked some killer instinct again as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Borussia Dortmund, their second straight stalemate in the group.
La Gazzetta dello Sport (seen below) writes that in the 0-0 draw against Newcastle at San Siro Milan deserved to win and yesterday in Dortmund against Borussia they could have won, a subtle difference, but not too much.
The meaning is the same, Milan at the start of this Champions League are lacking that ruthless nature needed to win games at this level. Against Newcastle it was Rafael Leao who was guilty of missing a big chance, against Dortmund it was Olivier Giroud and Samuel Chukwueze.
Borussia also had some scoring opportunities in the first half but it was in the second half that Milan had the match in hand. The home side attacked without getting much joy, knowing they needed to try and win, and left themselves exposed.
Leao plowed down the left flank, and every move he made terrified the Bundesliga side, but for one reason or another the ball didn’t go in and Milan were left with the consolation of another ‘clean sheet’.
Giroud aside, they are almost all young players and must acquire wickedness at the very top level. The group standings remain open, PSG’s defeat at Newcastle keeps everyone in the game.
For Milan the next stop is Paris, and another draw would not be a disastrous result, but this team has the strength and the technique to compete against anyone, to go to the Parc des Princes without fear.
In the second 45 minutes Milan played a game of resistance and restarting (counter-attacking), not their truest form but a demonstration of pragmatism and resilience.
Dortmund knew the pressure of getting three points at home after losing to PSG and as they went for it more they increased their defensive permeability, a point of weakness that Milan did not dig into enough.
For the first time, Milan ended the first two rounds of the Champions League group stage without scoring a goal and with two draws.
They hadn’t registered two consecutive 0-0s since April 1994, against Anderlecht and Porto, in the Champions League then won in Athens with the 4-0 over Cruyff and Guardiola’s Barcelona.
