Bayer 04 had already won in Rotterdam on the first matchday of the Youth League. On the second matchday, Milan were guests in Leverkusen on Tuesday afternoon – and the Werkself U19s celebrated their next success on the international stage thanks to a very good conversion of chances.
Goalscorer: Artem Stepanov scored the final goal in a 3-1 win against Milan.
IMAGO/DeFodi
The game got off to a perfect start for Bayer 04. After just six minutes, Onyeka made it 1-0 with a good shot from the second row. The guests from Milan then took control of the game. But they didn’t take advantage of their chances. Instead, Leverkusen made it 2-0 out of nowhere in the 39th minute through Alajbegovic. So it went into the break.
A similar picture emerged in the second round. Milan were clearly superior, but were too imprecise in front of the goal. It took a Leverkusen mistake, which Bonomi took advantage of to score a well-deserved goal in the 71st minute. AC then pushed for the equalizer. The Leverkusen keeper Schlich kept making strong saves.
The decision in injury time
In five minutes of stoppage time, Bayer was actually just trembling towards the final whistle, but then there was another counterattack: Petak played into the path of Stepanov, who stayed cool in a direct duel with the Milan goalkeeper and lobbed to make it 3-1. That was the final decision.
Leverkusen presented themselves as mercilessly efficient this afternoon. Although Milan were clearly superior for long stretches, they were unable to convert this superiority into something tangible. So the victory for the Werkself is a bit lucky in the end.
Bayer’s U19 will next be challenged in the DFB Junior Cup in Freiburg on Saturday. The Werkself continue in the Youth League on October 23rd at Stade Brest.
