Liverpool reverse to defeat AC Milan
Liverpool got off to the perfect start in the Champions League with Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Cody Gakpo impressing – but they were not the only ones
Despite being behind early, Liverpool still made a brilliant comeback to defeat AC Milan 3-1, thanks to goals from Konate, Van Dijk and Szoboszlai.
AC Milan opened the scoring early at home, but Liverpool scored 3 goals later to win 3-1 in the opening match of the 2024-25 Champions League group stage.
The 2024-25 Champions League will be played in a completely new format, with each team playing 4 home matches and 4 away matches against different opponents. Therefore, teams need to take full advantage of the opportunities when playing at home, and AC Milan understands that. Entering the home match, AC Milan pushed up their attacking formation, and the home team soon threatened the away team’s goal.
In the 3rd minute, the home team had a well-organized aš¯”±š¯”±ack starting from a goal kick by goalkeeper Maignan, Pulisic ran up the right side of the center and then skillfully finished on the right side of the penalty area, sending the ball diagonally past Alisson to open the score of the match.
Having conceded an early goal, Liverpool rose up to aš¯”±š¯”±ack in search of an equalizer. The away team gradually controlled the ball better than the home team and approached Maignan’s goal. In the 17th minute, Salah warned the opponent with a shot that Maignan could not block, unfortunately the ball hit the post and bounced out.
When the attacks were not effective, Liverpool showed diversity in finding goals, the away team fully exploited set pieces. In the 23rd minute, Konate came up to participate in the free kick and he chose a good position to comfortably head the ball close to the goal to equalize 1-1.
Losing the lead, coach Fonseca’s team struggled to defend against the visitors’ overwhelming aš¯”±š¯”±ack, Maignan’s goal was always in dangŅ½r. In the 41st minute, AC Milan players continued to play poorly in set pieces, this time Van Dijk headed in from a corner kick to raise the score to 2-1 for Liverpool.
Entering the second half with the lead, Liverpool took the initiative to play defensive counter-attacks. The visitors’ tight play made AC Milan’s attacks ineffective, and for a long time the home team did not even hit the opponent’s goal. In the 67th minute, Liverpool confirmed their victory when they scored the third goal, Gakpo’s cross was quickly finished by Szoboszlai and the ball went into the net.
AC Milan’s efforts to rise throughout the second half only left a little mark in the extra time, Leao had a shot that hit Alisson’s goal frame and bounced out. Unable to score, AC Milan sadly accepted a 1-3 loss at home at San Siro (Italy).