Paulo Fonseca's adventure at the helm of Milan has had a difficult start. Five games and one win is the record so far, and Tuesday's defeat to Liverpool, in their first appearance in the Champions League, proved that the team is far from the level expected by the coach – and, incidentally, by the fans. The result was 1-3, with a very high success rate “Rossoneri“, which says a lot about the direction of the game.

Let's put it in these terms: AC Milan had a shot towards Liverpool's goal. Yes, one. And scored in the third minute thanks to an assist from Alvaro Morata, who evaded Christian Pulisic's marker to cross. That could have been the reason for a positive result, and a convincing performance (after the recent 4-0 win against Venezia in Serie A), but no, it was the exact opposite.

Driven by the disadvantage, Liverpool (in a 4x2x3x1, mirroring the opponent's system) laid siege and controlled the play, with Gakpo, Salah and Szoboszlai supporting Diogo Jota. But it was not the movement of the forwards and the short exchanges that turned the result around, but the set pieces using the “two towers”.

In the 22nd minute, central defender Konate headed home an indirect free kick. In the 41st minute, it was his teammate who made the best connection to Tsimikas' corner. A header, of course, exposes Milan's weaknesses in defensive dead ball play.

In the second half, Milan were unable to respond and suffered a third blow in defensive transition, as Szoboszlai took advantage of a perfect cross from Gakpo to turn the ball into the net. 1-3 confirmed Liverpool's superiority and Italy's agony.

Most striking was Bayern Munich's 3-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb, which turned the scoreline from 3-0 into 3-2. But the sunshine was short-lived. The Germans found their rhythm again and reached an unexpected 9-2, with four goals from Harry Kane (three from penalties), one of the biggest wins in Champions League history – by a bigger margin, 8-0, only in 2015 (Real Madrid) and the last in 2007 (Liverpool).