Bayer Leverkusen and Milan meet on Matchday 2 of the Champions League league phase after the two sides picked up contrasting results in their respective openers.
Leverkusen, off the back of a historic Bundesliga campaign, celebrated their return to Europe’s top table with an emphatic 4-0 victory in a tough environment at Feyenoord, while Milan were soundly beaten 3-1 by Liverpool despite taking an early lead.
That defeat ramped the pressure up on new manager Paulo Fonseca, but the Rossoneri responded with a seismic victory over Inter in the Derby della Madonnina as boyhood Milanista Mattia Gabbia headed home a late winner.
Milan head into Tuesday’s game having cruised past Lecce 3-0 on Friday night.
We saw another side to Leverkusen at the weekend as they ground out a 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. Xabi Alonso’s side offered close to nothing going forward after Robert Andrich’s opener, but they did a fine job of limiting Bayern in the final third after Aleksandar Pavlovic drew the hosts level.
Leverkusen predicted lineup (3-4-2-1): Hradecky; Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapie; Frimpong, Andrich, Xhaka, Grimaldo; Terrier, Wirtz; Boniface.
Milan predicted lineup (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Emerson, Tomori, Gabbia, Hernandez; Fofana, Reijnders; Pulisic, Loftus-Cheek, Leao; Morata.