AC Milan left with work to do after defeat away to Feyenoord

AC Milan were edged out by Feyenoord in the first leg of their Champions League play-off as Igor Paixao’s early finish secured the Dutch side a 1-0 win at De Kuip.

The Brazilian struck in the third minute, with Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan at fault as the ball went in off him at his near post.

And Paixao subsequently went close to doubling the hosts’ lead when his 37th-minute shot hit the bar.

Joao Felix had a number of attempts saved by Timon Wellenreuther as Sergio Conceicao’s men suffered another European defeat – after the 2-1 loss to Dinamo Zagreb that had seen them miss out on automatic qualification for the last 16.

They must now come from behind in next Tuesday’s second leg if they are to get through against a Feyenoord side who were playing for the first time under interim head coach Pascal Bosschaart, having sacked Brian Priske ahead of the match.

With heavy rain coming down as the game got under way, Milan produced the first attempt early on when Tijjani Reijnders’ shot was saved by Wellenreuther, only to then find themselves a goal down seconds later.

Cutting into the box from the left, Paixao unleashed a low, bouncing strike that Maignan dived to get to but failed to stop going in.

Milan’s efforts to reply included Felix twice seeing shots saved by Wellenreuther, before Paixao then almost scored a spectacular second, sending a curler from outside the area on to the top of the bar.

Either side of that, Rafael Leao was thwarted in the Feyenoord box by fine interventions from Thomas Beelen and Givairo Read, and the livewire Paixao then saw a shot diverted behind by Kyle Walker just prior to the interval.

The hosts had further chances early in the second half as Beelen’s header was gathered by Maignan and Julian Carranza put a shot wide.

Milan struggled to create much at the other until Reijnders looped a shot over in the 71st minute.

Having kept him busy through the evening, Paixao then dispossessed Walker and tried his luck with an outrageous attempt from the halfway line, sending the ball off-target.

Milan went back on the attack with Samuel Chukwueze hitting a drive into Wellenreuther’s arms, and the goalkeeper pulled off further saves to deal with strikes from Strahinja Pavlovic and Felix as Feyenoord saw out the victory.