Champions League Catch Up: Paulo Fonseca and Milan Stifle the Boos as Pundits Hammer Blunt Juventus
Published on: October 23, 2024
Tuesday was a night of firsts for Serie A clubs in the Champions League.
At 16 years of age, Francesco Camarda became the youngest Italian to make his debut in European football’s premier competition as AC Milan beat Club Bruges 3-1 at the San Siro.
The teenager’s debut so nearly had a fairytale ending as Camarda found the back of the net, before his teammates hoisted him on their shoulders in front of his cheering parents, and he celebrated by taking off his shirt.
But the joy was short-lived as he was flagged offside and booked for his troubles.
Ultimately, it mattered little for the Rossoneri, who picked up their first win in the Champions League this season after losing to Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen.
This being Milan, however, it was far from the straightforward affair the scoreline may suggest. Bruges created several chances in the first 20 minutes and rattled the bar, a timely reminder the Rossoneri‘s defensive ailments are far from cured.
And yet the home side looked to be cruising to a comfortable win after Christian Pulisic opened the scoring with 34 minutes played and Bruges were reduced to 10 men just six minutes later following Raphael Onyedika’s sending off.
Kyriani Sabbe equalised early in the second half, before the latest chapter in the psychodrama starring Paulo Fonseca, Raphael Leao and the Milan fans.
Fonseca was loudly booed for his decision to remove the Portuguese star, who returned to the starting XI after being dropped for the win against Udinese on Saturday. He was replaced by Samuel Chukwueze on the hour mark, while Noah Okafor came on for Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
The boos immediately turned into cheers as both substitutes turned providers for Tijani Reijnders, who put Milan back in front and then completed his brace 10 minutes later.
“There’s no issue with Leao,” Fonseca told Sky Sports Italy after the game.
“I substituted him for tactical reasons. At that point, I needed Okafor and Chukwueze. It’s a normal part of the game.”
Next up for Milan is a daunting trip to the Santiago Bernabeu, but after the meeting with Real Madrid the fixtures list is much kinder to the Rossoneri.
If Fonseca celebrated his first win in the Champions League, Thiago Motta tasted defeat for the first time since replacing Max Allegri in the summer.
And, truth be told, the 1-0 loss against Stuttgart flattered the Bianconeri, who were disjointed up front, feeble in midfield and dismal defensively.
The visitors had 11 shots on target to Juventus’ one, had a goal ruled out by VAR early in the second half and missed a penalty late on as Mattia Perin denied Enzo Millot from the spot.
By far Juventus’ best player on the night, not even Perin could do anything about El Bilal Toure’s injury time winner, which checked the Old Lady’s momentum in the Champions League.
Motta’s team were unusually shaky defensively for a team that has made a habit of not conceding goals, but it is their lack of cutting edge up-front that is becoming a concern.
Juventus have conceded just three goals in all competitions under Motta, but have only scored 15 – with just four of them coming in Europe.
“Juventus should be doing much better, especially in the attacking third,” Paolo Di Canio said on Sky Sports Italy.
“There’s just not enough cutting edge.”
His fellow analyst Fabio Capello sang from the same hymnsheet.
“The pace of Italian football is too slow,” he said.
“As soon as a team presses high and plays with more tempo, Italian sides struggle. Our dominance in possession is meaningless. Juventus, for example, created nothing. They were passive throughout the entire match.”
Still, with six points after three matches, the Bianconeri remain in the mix for automatic qualification to the Round of 16, which is more than you can say for Bologna.
The Rossoblu are yet to score a goal in their Champions League campaign, which has now returned a stalemate draw against Shakthar Donetsk and away defeats to Liverpool and Aston Villa.
The defeat at Villa Park followed a similar script to their loss at Anfield, with Vincenzo Italiano’s men not shrinking in the face of a challenge, but ultimately coming up short when it mattered.
With one point in three matches, Bologna aren’t completely out of the equation for a spot in the play-offs, but a fixtures list including Borussia Dortmund, Sporting Lisbon and Monaco leaves them no room for error.
