Bierhoff: ‘Hard to imagine’ Milan victories against Liverpool and Leverkusen | OneFootball

Oliver Bierhoff admits he didn’t expect Paulo Fonseca’s Milan to beat Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen in the opening Champions League games of the season but is confident that the Rossoneri will climb the table.

Former Milan striker Bierhoff analysed the Rossoneri’s 1-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday during an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.

The Rossoneri have lost both their opening Champions League matches against Liverpool and the defending Bundesliga champions, but their ex-striker sees room for improvement.

“Milan weren’t that bad [against Bayer], especially in the second half. I think a draw would have been fairer,” he told Gazzetta.

Bierhoff: ‘Hard to imagine’ Milan victories against Liverpool and Leverkusen

“Milan were a little too cautious in the first half. They should have used counter-attacks better because there were spaces. I think they had opportunities to create more trouble.

“They lack a bit of creativity in attack. My Milan side was a team made of champions, that won thanks to entertaining playing style. This is a different group, but it is surely organised and we could see their ideas in the second half.”

There are six more games to go before the end of the league phase in the newly formatted Champions League.

“The new format can help them recover,” argued the former Germany international.

“Nothing is lost as there are still 18 points available. The fixture list didn’t help the Rossoneri because Liverpool and Bayer are two solid opponents. It was hard to imagine two victories, but if Milan play like in the second half against Bayer, they’ll surely go through. From now on, however, they can make no more mistakes.”

Bierhoff, 56, scored 102 goals in 220 Serie A matches with Ascoli, Udinese, Milan, and Chievo Verona. He won the Scudetto in the 1998-99 campaign under Alberto Zaccheroni.

A former Germany international, Bierhoff scored 37 goals in 70 international appearances.

Milan’s next Serie A match is against Fiorentina at the Stadio Franchi in Florence.