Champions League – Milan return a point from Salzburg (1-1)

One point is better than three you will get. This is what Stefano Pioli told himself at the end of this trip to the Red Bull Arena in Salzburg, which ended with a score (1-1). Finally, this first result in the 2022-2023 Champions League is not too bad for the Lombards given the defeat of Chelsea, the other candidate in this group E, at Dinamo Zagreb. Led by Noah Okafor, Milan was able to strike back thanks to Alexis Saelemaekers. They could even win at the end of the match.

RB Salzburg, accustomed to European matches, was eager to start the group stage successfully at home. Last season, the Austrian, who reached the eighth final, put infernal pressure from the first minutes. But Milan didn’t crack at first, with Mike Minnian confident in Rossonero’s goal. Only here, Okafor wanted to complicate Lombard’s affairs and played the Swiss international winger Pierre Kalolo before defeating the tricolor goalkeeper with a shot between the legs (28, 1-0).

One point is better than nothing

Influenced by this opening match, Milan reacted the right way with team play. Initially very individualistic in the kick at the start of the match, forgetting about Raphael Leao (eighth), Olivier Giroud allowed his Portuguese attacking partner to serve the Saelemaekers behind him, whose left-footed shot can only be converted into his own net by Philippe Cohen (40). , 1-1).

Looking back for the second season, both teams had their chance. Fernando missed recovering from a cross pass from Maurits Kigergaard (50), then Liao got the match point at the end of the match. But the ball hit the outer left post of Kuhn (94th place). Point is better than nothing. Chelsea knows something about it…