Overview
Since the start of the 2024-2025 season, AC Milan have been in relatively good form. Except for a 1-3 defeat to Liverpool on the opening day of the Champions League, they have won 3 and drawn 1 of their last 5 matches. This includes an impressive 2-1 victory over Inter in the Milan derby.
Besides the 3-0 victory in the most recent match against Lecce, AC Milan has enough confidence to find the first point in this year's Champions League.
However, having to play away at Bayer Leverkusen will not be an easy task. Coach Xabi Alonso's team just had an important 1-1 draw at Bayern Munich. Thereby, they increased their unbeaten streak to 4 in all competitions.
Leverkusen did not lose any key players after the successful 2023-2024 season. Therefore, Alonso's team still maintains the necessary strength to compete this season.
In the Champions League, Leverkusen had a smooth opening match when defeating Feyenoord with a score of 4-0. However, they did not play convincingly in defense, when they only kept one clean sheet in the last 5 matches.
With both teams in good form, this match is expected to be unpredictable. Perhaps, the home ground of BayArena will give the German representative a slight advantage.
This will be the first time Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan meet in the Champions League.
Human resources situation
Victor Boniface is expected to lead the attack for Bayer Leverkusen, with Wirtz and Martin Terrier supporting. Granit Xhaka will continue to start in midfield, while Jonathan Tah will be the leader in defence.
On the other side of the front line, AC Milan have a few injury concerns with Noah Okafor, Ismael Bennacer, Alessandro Florenzi and Davide Calabria all sidelined.
The Rossoneri are likely to continue to rely on the attacking duo of Tammy Abraham and Alvaro Morata, while Fikayo Tomori will start in defence.
Expected lineup:
Bayer Leverkusen: Hradecky, Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie, Frimpong, Xhaka, Andrich, Grimaldo, Wirtz, Terrier, Boniface.
AC Milan: Maignan, Royal, Gabbia, Tomori, Hernandez, Pulisic, Fofana, Reijnders, Leao, Abraham, Morata.
The match between Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan takes place at 2:00 a.m. on October 2 (Vietnam time).
