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Originally Posted by zlatanov
I am sure that it has EVERYTHING to do with that game vs ManU at the SS.
When the 1/4 finals came, the only team whose chances for lifting the trophy were worse than Milan's according to just about every self-conceived pundit out there, was PSV, a depleted PSV side that is.
now, everyone is taking what looks like the sure bet so that they don't look like a bare naked butt once again after all the empty talk before the 2nd leg vs bayern at the Arena and that 7-1 result ManU got vs Roma, which made these same experts wonder how many goals more than 3 would Manu score past a team that had been second best to Roma for the whole year.
If it wasn't for that game last Wednesday, I am sure the Bristish press now wouldn't be able to stop praising the soon-to-be champs of Europe, Liverpool ... instead, they are filling up their pages with a wine-nourished romance between Fergie and Carlo and heap hypocritical praise on Milan and how all of a sudden laughing at the Italian grandpas is no longer the vogue among all the Andy Grays out there.
As for Milan, I really don't see anything wrong with what Seedorf said ... if it was any other team Milan was facing, I would be worried about Milan underestimating them and getting a bit too cocky for their own good after that performance vs Man Utd ... but not with Liverpool, not after what happened 2 years ago when cockiness and underestimating the opponent is probably what cost us that final.
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Quite right. Milan will have fire in their bellies as soon as they step onto the pitch. They are super-motivated. My worry is actually they may be TOO motivated; that is, they may come in too eager to prove a point.
While it is hard to do so, they should use that night in Istanbul as a motivation but not as a pure vendetta.
With that said, before Italy and France this summer, everyone was talking about how Italy--after the euphoric win against Germany in hitherto Fortress Dortmund--would arrive in Berlin full of ire (revenge for Euro2000) and would feel that they would brush France aside.
The truth is war of words means little. Henry saying that Italians cannot defend, Gerrard launching personal attacks on Gattuso (a depressing low, even by football's standards), or Gattuso's opinion about the way Liverpool play (which, by the way, were not too far off the mark, so perhaps BBC should pay him instead of their usual gambit of clowns), will mean little.
Milan will be fired up because Istanbul still haunts. There is absolutely no risk that Milan players view the Final as a foregone conclusion. And, couple Istanbul with the siege mentality that grips Italian football (Milan's calciopoli verdict, Catania riots, the 7-1 crushing etc.), and you will see a Milan team fired up.
Oh and one more thing: Liverpool players started providing our team talk right after the Final. They blamed the Milan players of celebrating, which, by the way, the English media takes as truth (see Guardian football for proof).
If that didn't happen, oh boy...