Fine margins make the difference as Alonso's Leverkusen beats Milan in the Champions League

LEVERKUSEN, Germany (AP) — Bayer Leverkusen is doing things its own way in the Champions League. As AC Milan found out Tuesday, Xabi Alonso's team is entertaining, lucky, and difficult to beat.

Victor Boniface's goal made the difference as Leverkusen beat Milan 1-0 in its first Champions League home game in nearly two years. Alejandro Grimaldo lit up the game with a backheel pass for Jeremie Frimpong to shoot before Boniface finished on the rebound.

Leverkusen had its share of luck, too.

Alvaro Morata missed a close-range header for Milan late on, and the game was packed with close refereeing calls that could have easily tipped the game Milan's way.

“For me this was a Champions League-mentality game and having this experience and this feeling can be important for the future," Alonso said.

Milan was left aggrieved by the referee's decision not to caution Edmond Tapsoba for a shove to Theo Hernandez's face in the first half, and could have had a penalty when Tapsoba and Tammy Abraham tangled in the penalty area soon after.

The referee also played on in added time when Piero Hincapie made a heavy tackle on Milan's Ruben Loftus-Cheek right on the line of Leverkusen's penalty area, one of the final acts in a game of fine margins.

“I felt during the match that the referee didn’t hesitate to go against us. I don’t like to talk about the referees, I don’t want it to be an excuse but we feel these things,” Milan coach Paulo Fonseca told broadcaster Sky.

It was Leverkusen’s first Champions League game since a forgettable 0-0 draw with Brugge back on Nov. 1, 2022, and showed how much has changed for the club in that time.

Back then, Alonso had been in charge for less than a month and was seeing out the end of an underwhelming group-stage campaign that began under his predecessor Gerardo Seoane.

The draw that night secured a Europa League spot that Alonso’s Leverkusen used to start a run to the semifinals of the second-tier competition in 2022-23.

Leverkusen made history the following season with a Bundesliga and German Cup double and a record-breaking unbeaten run that ended only with a loss to Atalanta in the Europa League final.

The loss made Milan one of five teams so far to start the new-look Champions League with back-to-back losses, and by far the biggest name in that position.

Milan was playing in the aftermath of arrests in Italy that shook its fanbase and that of cross-city rival Inter Milan. Police in Milan said Monday they had arrested 19 people in an investigation into alleged extortion, assault and mafia connections around the city’s famed San Siro stadium.

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AC Milan's Matteo Gabbia reacts disappointed after the Champions League soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Tuesday, Oct.1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Leverkusen's head coach Xabi Alonso gives instructions from the side line during the Champions League soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Tuesday, Oct.1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen players celebrate their victory at the Champions League soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Tuesday, Oct.1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Leverkusen's Victor Boniface scores his side's opening goal during the Champions League soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Tuesday, Oct.1, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — One of two doctors charged in the investigation of the death of Matthew Perry is expected to plead guilty Wednesday in a federal court in Los Angeles to conspiring to distribute the surgical anesthetic ketamine.

Dr. Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego, signed a plea agreement with prosecutors in August and would be the third person to plead guilty in the aftermath of the “Friends” star’s fatal overdose last year.

Prosecutors offered lesser charges to Chavez and two others in exchange for their cooperation as they go after two targets they deem more responsible for the overdose death: another doctor and an alleged dealer that they say was known as “ketamine queen” of Los Angeles.

Chavez is free on bond after turning over his passport and surrendering his medical license, among other conditions.

His lawyer Matthew Binninger said after Chavez's first court appearance on Aug. 30 that he is “incredibly remorseful” and is “trying to do everything in his power to right the wrong that happened here.”

Also working with federal prosecutors are Perry’s assistant, who admitted to helping him obtain and inject ketamine, and a Perry acquaintance, who admitted to acting as a drug messenger and middleman.

The three are helping prosecutors in their prosecution of Dr. Salvador Plasencia, charged with illegally selling ketamine to Perry in the month before his death, and Jasveen Sangha, a woman who authorities say sold the actor the lethal dose of ketamine. Both have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

Chavez admitted in his plea agreement that he obtained ketamine from his former clinic and from a wholesale distributor where he submitted a fraudulent prescription.

After a guilty plea, he could get up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced.

Perry was found dead by his assistant on Oct. 28. The medical examiner ruled ketamine was the primary cause of death. The actor had been using the drug through his regular doctor in a legal but off-label treatment for depression that has become increasingly common.

Perry began seeking more ketamine than his doctor would give him. About a month before the actor's death, he found Plasencia, who in turn asked Chavez to obtain the drug for him.

“I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia texted Chavez. The two met up the same day in Costa Mesa, halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego, and exchanged at least four vials of ketamine.

After selling the drugs to Perry for $4,500, Plasencia asked Chavez if he could keep supplying them so they could become Perry’s “go-to.”

Perry struggled with addiction for years, dating back to his time on “Friends,” when he became one of the biggest stars of his generation as Chandler Bing. He starred alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004 on NBC’s megahit sitcom.

FILE - Matthew Perry appears at the GQ Men of the Year Party in West Hollywood, Calif., on Nov. 17, 2022. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Dr. Mark Chavez, center, a physician from San Diego, who is charged in connection with actor Matthew Perry's death from an accidental ketamine overdose, arrives at the Roybal Federal Courthouse in Los Angeles, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)