Paulo Fonseca cited a loss of "mental balance" that contributed to Milan starting their Champions League campaign with a 3-1 defeat to Liverpool on Tuesday.
Milan made a flying start when Christian Pulisic netted after two minutes and 47 seconds, the earliest the Serie A side had scored in the competition since Alexandre Pato's goal against Barcelona in 2011 (24 seconds).
But two headers from Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk, both from set-pieces, gave the visitors the lead before Dominik Szoboszlai sealed the victory after the break.
Liverpool dominated proceedings after their early setback, registering 23 shots on goal, 11 of which were on target compared to Milan's eight and two.
Arne Slot's side ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 3.09, while Milan could only muster a tally of 0.61 from their attempts on goal.
Ahead of kick-off, Fonseca expressed the importance of being defensively perfect against the Reds, but upon Espen Eskas' full-time whistle, the Milan head coach was left furious with his side's display.
"We played against Liverpool, who are a huge team," Fonseca began.
"We started well, both attacking and defending, but then we conceded two goals from set plays that changed the game.
"We lost our mental balance because when the team lacks confidence, we develop problems and don’t do what we prepared in training.
"I told the players, you cannot make those mistakes in this kind of game.
"At the same time, I have to admit Liverpool are more of a team right now than we are, we need to keep working to have not 20 good minutes, but 70, 80, 90 minutes playing our football.
"After we conceded the second goal, the team stopped playing, and it became difficult after that.”
Milan's danger man Rafael Leao also endured a quiet evening, despite completing more dribbles (five) than anyone during the fixture.
The Portugal international lost possession 15 times, the most in the Milan side, with Trent Alexander-Arnold coming out on top in their respective duels.
Fonseca reiterated his game plan was for Leao to attack Alexander-Arnold but lamented the lack of service provided to the winger by his midfielders.
“It was something we prepared in the little time that we had, try to put Leao against their right-back," he said.
"We did it once or twice in the match. What we prepared was to send Rafa one-on-one against him and we hardly did it.”
Simeone hails 'hard-working' Alvarez but calls for patience after first Atletico goal
Diego Simeone has called for patience with Julian Alvarez, after the forward opened his Atletico Madrid account last weekend.
The Argentina international netted his first goal for Los Rojiblancos against Valencia on Sunday, rounding off a commanding 3-0 victory at the Metropolitano Stadium.
It was Alvarez's fifth appearance since completing his move from Manchester City on a six-year deal reportedly worth up to €95million (£81.8million).
The 24-year-old linked up with his new team-mates following an extended break, having starred in Argentina's Copa America triumph in July.
Simeone insists Alvarez still needs time to settle into life in the Spanish capital, but is confident he will score plenty of goals throughout the campaign.
"[Alvarez] is a noble, hard-working boy, who surely has a lot of important things to give us," he told reporters at his press conference. "But he is coming from a summer, in which he had a brief holiday.
"It was that stir of: 'I'm going to go, I'm staying, have to start playing, got to go with Argentina, have to come back'. It was intense and, luckily, he is in a group of team-mates who are working very well and understand the situation.
"We are always going to demand what he can give us because we know and believe in his potential. Hopefully, him scoring his first goal the other day will be the first of many to come."
Alvarez could make his European bow for Atletico when they welcome Leipzig for their Champions League opener on Thursday.
And Simeone hopes his players and the Atleti supporters will respond to the occasion.
"We are looking forward to returning to compete in the Champions League," he added. "I can imagine a stadium with the energy required to return to this competition.
"Hopefully, we can transmit all the enthusiasm and energy that I'm counting on from this group."
Slot hoping to capitalise on new-found weapon upon Premier League return
Arne Slot aims to utilise the set-pieces that proved fruitful in his first Champions League game in charge of Liverpool when they welcome Bournemouth to Anfield this weekend.
Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk netted headers from corner kicks in the Reds’ 3-1 win over Milan in midweek, bouncing back from their shock defeat to Nottingham Forest last Saturday.
Liverpool’s loss to Nuno Espirito Santo’s side marked the first of Slot’s era since taking over from Jurgen Klopp, but the Dutch head coach is confident that the Red’s new-found weapon can punish the Cherries and get their Premier League campaign back on track.
“I don't look at the other team, I always look at my own team,” Slot said.
“I think we were a bit disappointed with the result against Nottingham Forest, [but] we were also disappointed from getting eight corner kicks and not scoring, but we were very close.
“I think [it was] two very good set-pieces and two very good headers that got us two goals, which was important because I think we were very comfortable on the ball, pressed well, but in the end, you need goals as well.”
Bournemouth, meanwhile, were on the end of a late defeat to Chelsea in their last Premier League fixture as Christopher Nkunku came off the bench to score for the visitors.
The Cherries had the opportunity to take the lead against Enzo Maresca’s side from the spot, only for £40million record signing Evanilson to see his spot-kick saved by Robert Sanchez.
In his first three league games, Evanilson has failed to score with his seven shots on goal, but head coach Andoni Iraola is confident the Brazilian will soon find his feet in England.
"I will not value his performance because he has scored. He has had a lot of chances. He created the penalty, and he has been very good," Iraola said.
“He wants to score for sure, but I will not focus on this. I am very happy with his performance.
"It's football. We played at home against Newcastle and Chelsea with two very good games, and we have one point. We played very well, had more chances, pushed them and you have to punish them, and we didn't.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Liverpool – Mohamed Salah
Salah has enjoyed previous meetings against Bournemouth, netting nine goals in nine Premier League appearances against them.
Should he score against the Cherries this weekend, it will be the fourth team he has reached double figures against in the competition (after Manchester United, Arsenal and West Ham).
It would also make the Egyptian the sixth player to score 10+ goals against four different opponents after Alan Shearer (12), Wayne Rooney (seven), Harry Kane (six), Andrew Cole (six) and Thierry Henry (four).
Bournemouth – Antoine Semenyo
Semenyo has started the campaign in fine form for Bournemouth, recording three goal involvements (two goals and one assist) in his first four Premier League games.
The Ghana international also has previous at Anfield, having scored in the third minute of the Cherries’ 3-1 defeat on Merseyside at the start of last season.
MATCH PREDICTION: LIVERPOOL WIN
Liverpool come into the encounter as the overwhelming favourites to return to winning ways in the Premier League, having won nine of their last 10 Premier League meetings with Bournemouth, with the exception being a 1-0 away defeat in March 2023.
However, the Reds have now lost two of their last five Premier League home games (W3), having lost just one of their previous 58 at Anfield. They’re looking to avoid consecutive home league defeats for the first time since March 2021 (a run of six).
But no side has faced fewer shots (28) or conceded fewer goals (one) than Liverpool in the Premier League this season, while the Reds also have the lowest expected goals (xG) against (2.8) and fewest shots on target faced (10).
The Cherries have struggled on Merseyside in recent years, losing nine of their 10 away games against Liverpool in all competitions, with the exception being a 2-2 draw in the Premier League in April 2017.
Bournemouth have also only won two of their 29 Premier League away games against teams starting the day in the top four, losing 25 of those matches (D2) – the exceptions are wins at Stamford Bridge over Chelsea, 3-0 in January 2018 and 1-0 in December 2019.
But Iraola’s side have shown signs of their attacking improvement. Only Brighton (67) and Manchester City (66) have had more shots than Bournemouth (65) in the Premier League this season, with the Cherries’ average of 16.3 per game their highest in a single top-flight campaign.
OPTA WIN PROBABILTY
Liverpool – 69.7%
Draw – 16.9%
Bournemouth – 13.4%
Goretzka 'will continue to be important' despite lack of playing time, Kompany insists
Vincent Kompany insists Leon Goretzka "will continue to be important" for Bayern Munich, despite his limited game time this season.
The Germany midfielder has fallen down the pecking order behind the likes of new signing Joao Palhinha, and played just 21 minutes this term.
Nine of those came on Tuesday, when he scored as a late substitute to complete his side's 9-2 rout of Dinamo Zagreb in their Champions League opener.
Though the 29-year-old has found opportunities hard to come by, Kompany maintains he is an integral part of Bayern's squad.
"He's important for us and will continue to be," Kompany told DAZN. "The team loves him. I only have players who want to play and accept the competition for places.
"At Bayern, it's always easy to talk about individual players. But I want to talk about the team. That’s important to me.
"He is very important in this team. He's doing well, but so are the others."
Goretzka has made over 200 appearances for Bayern since joining from Schalke in 2018, including 42 across all competitions last season.
The midfielder has also won five Bundesliga titles during his time with the Bavarian giants, as well as the Champions League in 2019-20.
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