Waiting for the big guys to perform

S AN S IRO IS A "HOTSPOT"

Aside from Real Madrid, no other team has won the European Cup/Champions League more than AC Milan and Liverpool. Tonight's exciting clash at the San Siro brings back too many glorious details from the past, from both sides. Now, both sides are playing their first Champions League match under new managers, and the similarities don't stop there. Both Paulo Fonseca (Milan) and Arne Slot (Liverpool) have their own problems to overcome in their teams.

Liverpool face AC Milan at San Siro

After winning all three of the first rounds of the Premier League, Liverpool suddenly collapsed in the last round of the weekend, losing 0-1 to weak opponent Nottingham Forest at home. If Liverpool's good players had just stood firm for a few more minutes in that match, Mr. Slot would have made history as the first coach in the Premier League to keep a clean sheet in his first four matches. The problem, according to both coach Slot and captain Virgil Van Dijk, lies in ball control. On the one hand, Liverpool kept the ball a lot but failed to promote its attacking value and paid the price with the eternal rule: keeping the ball a lot also means losing the ball unexpectedly. Playing heavily on defense and launching direct, quick attacks when the opponent lost the ball - that was the simple way for Forest to unexpectedly beat Liverpool. Did Mr. Fonseca have a reference basis to prepare tactics?

Milan's journey (and the problems that come with it) are the complete opposite. The Italian press has been talking about the risk of coach Fonseca being fired early, when Milan only drew or lost in the first 3 rounds of Serie A. Then, the opportunity for adjustment appeared when club football had to be suspended to make way for national teams to compete. And when it returned, it took Milan only 29 minutes to crush Venezia 4-0. Fonseca and his team, having just had their most glorious victory since the beginning of the season, will host a Liverpool team that just had their worst match since the beginning of the season. Of course, Milan's home advantage is another detail that needs to be mentioned. Along with the pride of the past that needs to be protected, Milan, although weaker in terms of force, will definitely fight hard, so that this match becomes truly balanced (because normally, Liverpool should be said to be stronger).

Real Madrid begin their journey to defend their title

Three months after beating Borussia Dortmund 2-0 in last season's Champions League final, Real Madrid face another Bundesliga opponent as they begin their title defence. This time they face Stuttgart. Real have generally been successful against German opposition, losing just one of their last 21 games.

Facing the defending champions, on the opponent's field, Stuttgart is certainly the "unluckiest" team in the first round of matches of this season with major changes in the format. Can they cause a surprise? The answer depends a lot on Ermedin Demirovic, the striker who is "in form" with the ability to score consecutively in the first matches of the season. Add Deniz Undav, who also scored against Moenchengladbach, and Stuttgart's strength is concentrated in the attack. But how they defend against Kylian Mbappe and a series of other attacking stars in the Real squad, that is the problem of this match. For now, Stuttgart will lose both important central defenders Hiroki Ito and Waldemar Anton.

Regardless, observers still have to admit: Stuttgart was one of the best teams in the Bundesliga last season. They are hoping to cause a surprise against a Real who have dropped points many times in the early stages of La Liga this season. "Rain of goals" may appear in this match, with Real being too strong while Stuttgart also want to "use offense to make up for defense".

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lich-thi-dau-moi-nhat-champions-league-cho-man-trinh-dien-cua-cac-ong-lon-185240917154012242.htm