Champions League roundup: Milan's woes continue, City and Barcelona impress

(AP), October 2 — Bayer Leverkusen is doing things its own way in the Champions League. As AC Milan found out Tuesday, Xabi Alonso’s team is entertaining, lucky, and difficult to beat.

Victor Boniface’s goal made the difference as Leverkusen beat Milan 1-0 in its first Champions League home game in nearly two years. Alejandro Grimaldo lit up the game with a backheel pass for Jeremie Frimpong to shoot before Boniface finished on the rebound.

Leverkusen had its share of luck, too.

Alvaro Morata missed a close-range header for Milan late on, and the game was packed with close refereeing calls that could have easily tipped the game Milan’s way.

“For me this was a Champions League-mentality game and having this experience and this feeling can be important for the future,” Alonso said.

Milan was left aggrieved by the referee’s decision not to caution Edmond Tapsoba for a shove to Theo Hernandez’s face in the first half, and could have had a penalty when Tapsoba and Tammy Abraham tangled in the penalty area soon after.

The referee also played on in added time when Piero Hincapie made a heavy tackle on Milan’s Ruben Loftus-Cheek right on the line of Leverkusen’s penalty area, one of the final acts in a game of fine margins.

“I felt during the match that the referee didn’t hesitate to go against us. I don’t like to talk about the referees, I don’t want it to be an excuse but we feel these things,” Milan coach Paulo Fonseca told broadcaster Sky.

It was Leverkusen’s first Champions League game since a forgettable 0-0 draw with Brugge back on Nov. 1, 2022, and showed how much has changed for the club in that time.

Back then, Alonso had been in charge for less than a month and was seeing out the end of an underwhelming group-stage campaign that began under his predecessor Gerardo Seoane.

The draw that night secured a Europa League spot that Alonso’s Leverkusen used to start a run to the semifinals of the second-tier competition in 2022-23.

Leverkusen made history the following season with a Bundesliga and German Cup double and a record-breaking unbeaten run that ended only with a loss to Atalanta in the Europa League final.

The loss made Milan one of five teams so far to start the new-look Champions League with back-to-back losses, and by far the biggest name in that position.

Milan was playing in the aftermath of arrests in Italy that shook its fanbase and that of cross-city rival Inter Milan. Police in Milan said Monday they had arrested 19 people in an investigation into alleged extortion, assault and mafia connections around the city’s famed San Siro stadium.

 4-0 win for City at outsider Slovan Bratislava

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — While Erling Haaland maintained his staggering record of having more goals than games in the Champions League, it was the performance of another attacker that might have given Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola more satisfaction on Tuesday.

It is difficult to build too many narratives from an easy 4-0 win for City at outsider Slovan Bratislava, but Phil Foden’s display in the Slovakian capital — featuring a goal, a sumptuous assist and plenty more — was hard to ignore.

Given an extended break after helping England reach the European Championship final during the summer, the England forward has been eased into this campaign by Guardiola.

Indeed, this was just a second start in all competitions for Foden, last season’s player of the year in English soccer. The world might be about to see Foden at his best once again.

His finish for City’s second goal — a calm, low, curling shot into the far corner from just inside the area — was classic Foden and the type of strike he delivered time and again last season.

“It’s my signature, to be honest,” Foden said. “Get it out of my feet and find the far corner.”

Better was his scooped pass over Slovan’s back line to fellow academy product James McAtee for the substitute’s goal that rounded off the scoring on a comfortable night for the English champions, who had drawn 0-0 with Inter Milan to begin the new-look Champions League.

“Nice to score again but more importantly to enjoy my football,” Foden said. “Delighted with the result and how I played.

“I’ve had a very slow start to the season with a bit of illness and a bit of fatigue but I’m getting back into it now and feeling more like myself.”

Foden finished the game as City’s center forward, a role he might have to assume on the occasions Haaland isn’t around given the team sold back-up striker Julian Alvarez during the summer and didn’t sign a like-for-like replacement.

Haaland was substituted in the 60th minute having just scored City’s third, putting him on 42 goals in 41 appearances in Europe’s elite club competition.

It’s a remarkable record for a striker who, nevertheless, missed a great opportunity to really pour in the goals in a mismatch that saw City enjoy 76% possession and have 28 shots — three of them hitting the goal frame.

Instead, this was more a night for Foden to show how integral he remains for City and Guardiola.

His season starts here.

Barcelona’s 5-0 win over Young Boys

Former Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who is set to join Barcelona after Marc-André ter Stegen got injured, attended the club’s 5-0 win over Young Boys in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Szczesny watched the match from a VIP section at the Montjuic stadium. His signing is expected to be announced in the next few days.

Iñaki Peña has been Barcelona’s starter in goal since Ter Stegen had surgery after rupturing a tendon in his right knee in a Spanish league game last month.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has backed Peña but said the club would look to add another goalkeeper to the squad.

Szczesny had retired from professional soccer in August after leaving Italian club Juventus.

The 34-year-old Szczesny, who started his professional career at Arsenal, made 84 appearances for Poland with the last two at this summer’s European Championship.