AC Milan successfully defeated Slovan Bratislava with a tight score of 3-2 in the matchday 5 League Phase of the 2024/2025 Champions League at Tehelne Pole, Tuesday (11/26/2024).
Milan’s three winning goals were scored by Christian Pulisic, Rafael Leao, and Tammy Abraham. Slovan put up fierce resistance through goals from Tigran Barseghyan and Nino Marcelli.
Thanks to this result, Milan maintained their positive trend by always winning in the last three League Phase matches. On the other hand, Slovan is increasingly sinking to the bottom of the standings.
Check out the full summary of the match below.
The duel was tight from the start. Milan was able to open the lead first thanks to Pulisic’s goal in the 21st minute. Just three minutes later, Barseghyan brought Slovan to equalize the score to 1-1.
Entering the second half, Paulo Fonseca brought in Leao. As a result, the Portuguese star scored in the 68th minute to bring Milan back in the lead.
Just three minutes later, Abraham also registered his name on the scoreboard. The away team was now increasingly in the lead with a score of 3-1.
However, Slovan did not give up so easily. Marcelli reduced the deficit in the 88th minute. Unfortunately, Slovan had to lose Marko Tolic in injury time due to receiving a second yellow card.
Slovan failed to score an equalizer in the remaining time. The final score of 3-2 for Milan’s victory was the final result of this match.
Milan started their campaign in this season’s Champions League, which uses a new format, with two defeats. Paulo Fonseca’s team lost 1-3 at home to Liverpool, then lost 0-1 at Bayer Leverkusen.
However, Milan were able to bounce back. They then beat Club Brugge and Real Madrid respectively with a score of 3-1, and tamed Slovan Bratislava 3-2.
Rafael Leao highlighted the importance of the victory over Slovan Bratislava.
“The most important thing today was the victory because we wanted to qualify. This was an important match for us, and I must admit that Slovan played very well in front of an extraordinary crowd. However, we managed to finish the match well even though we gave several chances to the home team,” said Leao, as quoted by UEFA.com.
Fonseca was satisfied with the result of this match. According to him, his team deserved the three points.
“We won deservedly. We even had some chances to increase the win at the end of the match. However, we have achieved the main objective, which was to win. That’s why we came here,” said Fonseca.
Furthermore, Fonseca emphasized his team’s target.
“Our goal is to be one of the top eight teams in the league phase. Three consecutive wins have helped us towards that target, but now we have to focus on the next match,” he said.
