AC Milan head coach Paulo Fonseca was left unimpressed by his team’s defending after they nearly squandered their lead in a tense 3-2 Champions League victory against Slovan Bratislava on Tuesday.
The win marked Milan’s third consecutive triumph in the competition, bringing their total to nine points. However, the Italian side faced a nervy finish as the hosts scored in the 88th minute and threatened to equalize.
While Fonseca was pleased with the victory and Milan’s strong position in the group, the Portuguese coach highlighted his team’s defensive lapses that contributed to the late drama.
“We have won the last three games in the Champions League. We have scored nine goals. It is very positive. Today it was important to win, and that is what we did,” Fonseca told reporters.
“I think we dominated during the match. We changed a lot of players. We did some positive things but also some things to improve, maybe because we changed a lot of players.
“We didn’t do the defensive marking well, then after the break, we improved. We deserved to win.”
Christian Pulisic opened the scoring for Milan in the 21st minute, but Tigran Barseghyan quickly equalized for Slovan Bratislava. Rafael Leao, coming on as a half-time substitute, restored Milan’s lead before Tammy Abraham’s decisive strike three minutes later. Despite Nino Marcelli’s late goal for Slovan, Milan held on for the win.
Fonseca dismissed concerns about his players’ attitude, instead pointing to issues with their game awareness and defensive decision-making.
“These things are difficult to explain. Maybe because these defenders haven’t played much. It’s a question of reading, not of attitude,” he said.
“In the first half, when we allowed Slovan to come out, it was a question of defensive marking. We were too far away with the defenders, and they were always alone to come out. It’s a problem of reading and understanding what was happening.”
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