Boniface makes Leverkusen celebrate against Milan

Bayer Leverkusen have already delivered their second big Champions League exclamation mark – and thanks to Victor Boniface, they beat Italian runners-up AC Milan 1-0 (0-0) on Tuesday evening.

Bayer's record in the top flight remains unblemished after an opening 4-0 win over Feyenoord Rotterdam. “We held together well in defence.”Bayer coach Xabi Alonso said satisfied after the match, “We showed the Champions League mentality in both matches. The Champions League means: fighting.” Captain Granit Xhaka added: “We created a lot of chances and took advantage of one of them. In the Champions League, the little things make the difference. We played with great concentration and used the space in the wide positions very well.”

Leverkusen had a furious start indeed. The first big chance came two minutes later with a quick counter-attack, but Boniface shot the wrong way past Mike Maignan. A few seconds later, the French national team goalkeeper had to hold the ball again, and this time Piero Hincapé headed the ball towards the goal from a distance of eight metres.

Offside – Boniface's goal was disallowed again

What Milan came up with in the first half was shockingly weak: no forward movement, complete passivity in midfield, stars like Tijani Reynders, Rafael Leao and Tammy Abraham completely hidden. An appropriate penalty would have been Leverkusen's opening goal, which the fans briefly cheered after 20 minutes. Referee Sandro Scherer then rightly disallowed Boniface's stunning goal from a Jeremy Frimpong cross: Frimpong was offside after Alex Grimaldo had converted the match.

Even after that, Milan didn't feel compelled to change gears or two. At times, the visitors had two series of five inside and in front of their own penalty area, but Bayer found openings: Frimpong's subsequent shot after a briefly blocked shot by Boniface went over the goal (38'), and Amine Adly's low shot was also on target. Inaccurate (40) In addition, Boniface and Florian Wirtz repeatedly ignored their better teammates.

He saves Maignan – but is then incapacitated

Things got better in the second round. In the 48th minute, Minian made a wonderful save from Wirtz's shot. Three minutes later, the Frenchman was helpless: Grimaldo picked up Alex Garcia's through ball and sent Frimpong, whose shot could only be parroted by Maignane – straight at the feet of Boniface, who fired in from four meters out.

Only then did Milan do more in attack. In the 55th minute, Reinders suddenly shot a free ball from the right half of the goal, and Lukas Hradecky was able to put his arm in the path of the shot.

Frimpong misses a great opportunity

Even 20 minutes before the end, things were very difficult for Leverkusen. Spanish substitute Alvaro Morata narrowly missed a header, then almost took advantage of confusion by Hradecky, who was calmly trying to dribble across his own penalty area.

Leverkusen then had the match point, but Frimpong fired the ball into the side netting after a through ball from Wirtz in front of Maignan. He almost took revenge in the 84th minute: Granit

A complete false start for Milan

Hradecky could only watch the scenes in amazement, but then he took control of events again: Ruben Loftus-Cheek shot from twelve meters out, and the Finn quickly raised his fists, thus ensuring Bayer's second top-flight win of the season.

There was some luck again in stoppage time: Hincapie hit Loftus-Cheek with his foot on the edge of the penalty area, but surprisingly the sight was not deemed a foul nor criticized by VAR. But for Milan, the false start was perfect: Paulo Fonseca's side lost their first home match 1-3 to Liverpool FC.