Milan’s head coach and captain were making all the right noises on the eve of their Champions League clash with United at Old Trafford, insisting they can overturn their 2-3 deficit from the first leg.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s opposite number Leonardo certainly exuded confidence as he fielded questions in Italian and English, neither being his native tongue. When asked why he seems so upbeat about his team’s chances, the former Brazil midfielder said: “My confidence stems from what we are doing, the way we are playing.
“Even in the first leg, there were many positive aspects to our play. It’s still an open tie. We’ve played well since the first leg so we are feeling confident. We just need to go out and make the most of our opportunities.”
Leonardo believes the spirit and cohesion of his players will prove more important than any tactical card he could play. He’s looking for the perfect team performance - akin to the one which Milan produced to beat United 3-0 in 2007 - but he acknowledged the English media’s interest in one player in particular. Read more…
Bari were no match for an efficient AC Milan side who bagged three important Serie A points to erase the recent memory of Champions League defeat.
Milan were hoping to use the game as a chance to recover from the recent loss to Manchester United in the Champions League. For Bari the task was simple, make the misery worse and bag a vital three points.
The first half was a frustrating one to watch. Milan had plenty of the ball but were not doing enough to convert this into a good lead. However, they stuck to their task and stretched the advantage in the second 45, never looking back.
Bari made the slightly better start as Barreto went racing down the wing in the fourth minute. Gattuso was having none of it and raced over to clear the danger and any early chance of a threat against Milan.
Milan struggled in the early moments to find their feet. Passes were going out of play and either too long or short. If Bari could get an early goal then it could help them when Milan improved later in the game.
Ambrosini missed a great chance just before the quarter of an hour mark when he fired over. Pato did well to beat the full back, progress along the by line and cut the ball back before it was sent into row z.
Bari were not to be outdone and a good little move nearly put them ahead. Meggiorini found a little space on the edge of the area but couldn’t get enough power behind his shot as a Milan defender came across to clear. Read more…
A player of Beckham’s calibre and willing deserves a proper send-off. If it is to be his last game there, he deserves no less than a genuine contest, not just a teary-eyed curtain call, and although Manchester United will start as hot favourites, they will afford AC Milan respect after this.
Briefly, it seemed as if David Beckham’s return to Old Trafford next month would be strictly ceremonial. Clarence Seedorf’s sublime back-heel changed that, and for the best, too.
The stronger team won here, but not with ease. The best football of the game was played by Milan before half-time when they had enough chances to go three clear.
Manchester United drew level courtesy of a fluke and got back in the game because Milan ran out of puff. For all the talk of the magic worked in the laboratories of the training camp at Milanello, the home side looked exhausted as the hour passed. Players that had dominated the first 45 minutes fell off the radar: Ronaldinho, in particular.
They say the great ones never lose it but that is not true. Ronaldinho lost it dramatically at Barcelona, which is why he ended up at AC Milan, a great club in temporary decline since winning the Champions League in 2007. Milan are an aging team and Ronaldinho is old before his time. Read more…
Manchester United secured an historic win at the San Siro as they drew first blood in an enthralling Wayne Rooney was the match-winner with a brace of second-half headers to earn United a precious first-leg advantage.
They came after Paul Scholes’ fortunate equaliser but Milan played their part after Ronaldinho’s deflected opener.
Champions League last-16 tie with AC Milan.
Clarence Seedorf’s skilful 85th-minute finish gave Milan hope, while Michael Carrick was sent off in injury time.
Carrick’s second yellow card - for kicking the ball away - capped a frantic finale as Milan, who had bossed the opening hour, threatened to deny United a first win in the stadium.
And that, combined with Seedorf’s late goal, served to take the edge off the win, even though United showed just about enough to suggest they can keep Milan at bay in the second leg on 10 March.
It was a strange affair for Sir Alex Ferguson’s men, who in many ways can consider themselves fortunate to have come away with the win after a first hour in which they looked a shadow of a side that has gone nine games unbeaten.
Before the match, Ferguson had talked pointedly of avoiding the “circus” that surrounded David Beckham’s first match against his former employers.
But whether they had been caught up in the pre-match hype or merely overwhelmed by the occasion, United barely got out of first gear in a nervy half-hour.
Poor in possession, toothless in attack and ill-organised in defence, the visitors allowed Milan the freedom of the San Siro as the hosts quickly got into their stride. Read more…
MILANELLO - Here are the declarations made by coach Leonardo and David Beckham in a press conference today at Milanello ahead of Milan-Manchester United:
DAVID BECKHAM:
ON MILAN’S CHARM
“Obviously, for me, it’s really nice to play in this club, one of the best in the world. It’s not important against whom we play, but the atmosphere that can be felt inside this club.
For tomorrow night’s clash we are ready. Thinking about the past matches between Milan and Manchester United, there have been easier wins, other times more difficult ones, but for tomorrow we are ready.”
ON THE SENSATIONS OF THE CLASH AGAINST MANCHESTER
“Surely it will be a very exciting game for me. Seeing here at Milanello the English press makes me happy, they are all good lads, they always supported me and I take the opportunity to welcome them. In these seven years after I left Manchester United, tomorrow night’s match will be the first one against Ferguson’s team as opponent and I will do my best so that Milan wins. Unitedare a great team who possess strong players, they know how to hold the ball. Rooney is a key player of this group. Milan must maintain the game, we will also need a bit of luck, but the important thing is that Milan wins this clash.”
ON THE ABSENCE OF KAKA AND RONALDO IN THE TWO FORMATIONS
“I think that when a club loses two players of the calibre of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, the squad always feels the difference. Read more…
David Beckham gives good face, as Madonna would say, and on the eve of a Champions League knockout tie with Manchester United he was in his element.
The action moves to the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, known to the world as the San Siro, tonight, where a more exacting reckoning awaits.
For Beckham, yesterday was a doddle, the easy part.
The ability to handle the media increases the nearer a man gets to 35; it is his ability to handle a decent full back that starts waning.
The cynical will argue that the day Manchester United pulled AC Milan out of the hat in the draw for the Champions League second round, the sound of champagne corks popping at Beckham Inc would have been louder than a 24-gun salute.
Happy days were here again. Their man would dominate the coverage around the first match, while his competitive return to Old Trafford in the second leg would be the perfect PR set-piece: an emotional, agenda-setting, headlinegrabbing affair. Read more…
David Beckham, as the one man here to have bridged both camps, is its leading advocate. Beckham gives support, in one sense, to the traditional if hackneyed criticism of Milan: that they are too old, too reliant on a small cabal of long-serving players, to be competitive at the highest level.
At 34, he is forced to listen to claims that he is past his best, and is almost certain to be on the bench on Tuesday to make way for such in-form fliers as Alexandre Pato and Amantino Mancini. But five games into his second spell of wearing Milan’s No 32 jersey, Beckham has the perspective to discern the change in this team, the shift from a deference to Paolo Maldini – the talismanic captain who retired last summer aged 40 – to an investment in youthful flair, as exemplified by exciting Dutch centre-forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Read more…
DAVID BECKHAM still wishes he was a Manchester United player.
That is why he will not be celebrating if he scores against his old club in the second round of the Champions League.
The former England skipper faces United next Tuesday for the first time since his acrimonious departure to Real Madrid seven years ago.
Becks, on loan at AC Milan, is looking forward to his reunion but clearly he would still like Old Trafford to be his permanent home.
He said: “I always wish I was part of Manchester United, it is just in me.
“Even though I am not there any more, I am still a huge fan.
“Coming to terms with not being a United player was certainly the toughest thing I’ve ever had to deal with.
“When you are a Manchester United player and a Manchester United fan you never want to play for any other club.
“I always want them to do well and ]be successful because the club still means so much to me. Read more…
It is the second time Becks has lost to Jose in the match-up. Mourinho claimed there was a plot against Inter after having two men sent off.
Mourinho ruled the roost after his side saw off David Beckham’s AC Milan.
Inter moved nine points clear of their city rivals at the top of Serie A following a fiery San Siro derby.
Sneijder went for dissent in the 26th minute.
Lucio was also dismissed for handball late on although Ronaldinho had the resulting penalty saved by Julio Cesar.
Jose Mourinho rapped: “Everything was done to try to prevent Inter from winning. But we will win the Scudetto.
“We would have won this game even with seven men.” Beckham, who was booked in the third minute, has been told he can play until he is 40. Read more…
