Juventus vs Milan (Game comments)

It's been a while since I saw Milan totally dominated a game! They played almost to absolute perfection but lady luck was on an early Christmas vacation. And I do not want to talk about the refereeing because it's pointless.

The point, however, I want to make here is: was the so-called mighty Juventus actually playing football? They didn't play like a Serie A leader - tactical skills gone awry, being dirty on their tackles, and Capello even had the audicity to say Juventus' lack of performance was due to the pressure that mounted to this game. It basically says Juventus can't handle big games such as this. *sigh* I swear Fiorentina was a more worthy opponent than Juventus two weeks ago.

Milan deserved to win this game hands down. Juventus better look for a new house coz Santa ain't coming down you chimney this season!

a interesting quote from real madrid's website:

'Fortunately Bertini does not referee in the Champions League'

WE'VE BEEN THE TEACHERS AND JUVENTUS THE PUPILS, that's all!

If i continue to remeber that match i'll go crazy coz of the ****ing referee Bertini....DAMNH HIM alive!!!!

Milan merited to win...there'were 2 penalities (Crespo-Kaladze) and KAKA' has been stopped without observing the rule "3+2"

what a ****ing refereeeee" ..grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Having missed my flight and as such, finding myself with some time on my hands in Costa Rica’s San Jose aeropuerto internacional, I decided to properly put down some of my thoughts about this key fixture in this the first half of the 04-05 Serie A season.

I don’t have net access, but nevertheless, I will endeavour to utilise my somewhat poor memory and piece together this article or poor excuse thereof.

Both coaches have downplayed the importance of this match, no doubt to becalm the queasy stomachs of their players, on the eve of this gigantic game. Capello has stated that even if Juve lose, they will still be in the lead for the Christmas break, and Carlo Ancelotti has said that if Milan lose, it will not be the end of the scudetto chase.

The math however is simple, and a look at the standings shows Juve with a lead of 4 points over Milan, at 38 and 34 points respectively.

Winning this fixture translates into a “6 point” gain for Milan, as we would have gained 3 points on the Old Lady, while depriving them of 3, therefore, the six point calculation.

This in no way is just another match therefore, for if Juve win, they gain a 7 point advantage on Milan, with the psychological boost of beating their nearest rivals just prior to the winter break. How much comfort the Turin giants will take from their title of “Winter Champions” is not clear, as the winter champs never usually go on to win the scudetto come season’s end.

The more pragmatic of us will say that rules were meant to be broken, and with Juve´s track record, and with Capello at the helm, this is one tradition that looks to be put to the test.

What Milan fans must be smiling about, and indeed we are, is that win lose or draw, we cannot be winter champions, and this situation will not be lost on the players.

Rosseneri fans can also take comfort in the fact that Milan is the “in-form” team at the moment, and Juve has depended on the usual dubious refereeing decisions to influence the outcome of their recent games, their last match vs. Bologna is a glaring example of this. The purported foul on Zlatan Ibrahimovich was suspect in the extreme, and prompted strong protests from the Bologna players, before and after what was a splendid strike from last season´s European Footballer of the year, Pavel Nedved from the “D” of the Bologna 18 yard box.

Meanwhile in the San Siro, a rampant Milan crushed the Viola 6-0 with a display of attacking soccer that had fans dancing in delight, and Carlo’s usually poker faced demeanour cracking into a rare smile, with even a laugh or two.

The current European footballer of the year, Andriy Shevchenko, plies his trade in Milan, and scored a brace, so even the neutral fan must be excited about the meeting of the two top European footballers!
Berlusconi’s tongue in cheek comment that Milan would bring the ball, and Juve would bring the ref, I am sure will only serve to heighten what must already be an exciting chapter in this years scudetto drama.

The proceeding were my pre-match thoughts, and now for my post match thoughts, having only read (extensively if I might say so myself) :

I take great pleasure in the realisation that though the match didn’t go our way, we still demonstrated good, attacking football, creating chances, that the woodwork and the ref conspired to negate.

Our performance was seemingly back to the Milan of our trophy winning best, though conversion of the opportunities just wasn’t happening, and luck seemed to desert us on the day, the ref compounding matters by not calling what most seemed to be a fair shout for a penalty on Zebina´s shirt pull on Crespo.

We fans can comfortably go into the winter break feeling confident that Milan are the best “team” in Italy…team, and what a team…a collection of a myriad of players, of cosmopolitan nature, yet with enough of the Italian element so necessary for a club of Milan’s stature.

A 0-0 draw against the old lady, who is leading the Serie A standings, and with Don Capello calling the shots tactically, we went into what should have been a very tense match for us and played with apparent fluidity and grace, and nearly snatched a victory. Juve´s late match histrionics were just that.

In front of their own fans, it seems that Juve fell apart, choked even, and that for me is a good thing, as when they again falter, we will keep right on winning , and when they come to the San Siro, we will eat these Zebra´s alive.

The players can go into the break proud of their performance in the home of the league leaders, and enjoy the yuletide season, and I wish them all a Merry Christmas, and a Scudetto and UCL Trophy New Year!

that sums up the game perfectly warro