Xabi Alonso, now in charge of Bayer Leverkusen, is now reuniting with Milan, a team that brings back great memories. As a Liverpool player, in 2005 he won the unforgettable Champions League final against the ‘Rossoneri’ in Istanbul after taking a 3-0 lead with his great goal and winning on penalties (3-3 and 3-2 ). In 2007, Milan got revenge on the Reds in another final (2-1).
“20 years later, we still talk about that night,” Xabi Alonso confessed yesterday. The German champions opened the Champions League overwhelming Feyenoord (0-4) and on Saturday they started with a 1-1 draw against Bayern in Munich. Milan will try recover 1-3 against Liverpool at San Siro. He has come off three consecutive wins in Serie A after a bad start but he has doubts Alvaro Morata that drag a small blow.
Xabi Alonso praises Morata
Yesterday Xabi Alonso has revealed that he is “in contact” with Moratareferred to him as “a good player, intelligent and competitive”, highlighted that “he was the captain of the national team and had experience” and hoped that he “didn’t have his best day”.
From Milan, Xabi Alonso emphasized that “it is always difficult to play against Italian teams. We will need patience in possession because they defend well and are ready to stay. Fonseca’s playing style is well defined. “Tomorrow (today) we will see the performance, but we always want to star.”
In its part, Paulo Fonseca, that went from one step away from dismissal to consecutive defeats at Venezia (4-0), Inter in the derby (1-2) and Lecce (3-0). He revealed that “I told the players that to beat a strong team like Leverkusen we have to be a defensively perfect team.”
Fonseca is upset that he is defensive
But not long after he added: “Today they made me read the words of Xabi Alonso. When we talk about Italian teams, we always say the same thing: that they are good at defending and playing counterattack. I want to say other things when we talk about Milan. “We want to be like that. Tomorrow we will obviously defend because we will be playing against a very strong team, but when we have the ball we want to play anyway.”
Finally, Morata, with a small knock, assured that “he tried to play in the last game. It is a doubt and we can control it. We will see how he is tomorrow. We do not want to take any risks.”
Possible lineups
BayArena (9:00 p.m.)
Bayer Leverkusen: Hradecky; Tapsboba, Tah, Hincapié; Frimpong, Xhaka, Andrich, Grimaldo; Terrier, Wirtz; Boniface
coaches: Xabi Alonso
The
Milan: Magnan; Calabria, Gabbia, Pavlovic, Theo Hernández; Youssouf Fofana, Reijnders; Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek or Morata, Rafael Leao; Abraham
coaches: Paulo Fonseca
The
Referee: Sandro Schärer (Switzerland)
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
