Man Utd v AC Milan (pre-game comments)

I totally agree what Bayman said about the Portugese speakers tactic, if team Brazil ware Milan jersey and England ware Manu jersey, there won't be any worry for me at all.

Originally Posted by Henrik

The defensive line-up worries me. If we only have one striker, Cafu is even more important to have. Now all attacks will come thru the x-mas tree funnel and may be easily stopped by ManU. I hope Carletto has an ace up his sleeve.

Forza Milan regardless

Don't worry Henrik. In our great run with the X-Mas tree at the start .... SIMIC used to be our right back while Kala our left back.

Cafu and Serginho coming on as subs will inject pace and purpose in our game later on when Utd. players are tired.

Cafu or Stam ... I am not worried as long as Dida, Maldini, Nesta, Gattuso, Seedorf, Pirlo, Rui and Kaka start.

Bring on Utd.

The time has finally come. The buzz of the CL is back and were coming into the match with a lot of enthusiasm.

Its not the same tie we expected in December, BUT, we still have the qualities and abilities to beat Man U.

Defensively, Man U are quite frail and they will rely on Keane in particular to break down our attacks.

Offensively, United are very strong at the moment, and we'll need to be at our best to stop them. Their wing play is good and this is an area we really need to be careful. Ronaldo and Giggs are major threats and will try to run rings around our fullbacks. United's midfield is strong too and this is an area we need to dominate. I agree with those who say play XMas tree formation, as it will allow us to dominate the midfield and also allow more stronger and effective attacking plays, as JDT and Crespo lately haven't helped in this area anywhere near enough when together.

Defensively, our side is strong, as we've been far more solid in recent weeks, despite the "not so good" performances and this will be a key factor in victory.

As Ancelotti has stated, Utd will try to play a high paced game often looking to the wings and Scholes and Rooney for inspiration. Our aim should be to hold possession and frustrate united. This means a high pressure game will be needed to stop the flow of Utd's game and stop them from creating attacks and building momentum.

However, Utd will try the same and play a high pressure game. This means we must control the pace of the game too and dictate play as much as possible!

Although this match is a very tough prospect, we have the qualities to beat anyone, and Man U are no different!

Lets hope for a win, and at the very least a score draw!

FORZA MILAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Haroon

Don't worry Henrik. In our great run with the X-Mas tree at the start .... SIMIC used to be our right back while Kala our left back.

Cafu and Serginho coming on as subs will inject pace and purpose in our game later on when Utd. players are tired.

Cafu or Stam ... I am not worried as long as Dida, Maldini, Nesta, Gattuso, Seedorf, Pirlo, Rui and Kaka start.

Bring on Utd.

I have this game figured out now. Carlo is planning to do to ManU what Muhammed Ali did to Forman in the "Rumble in the Jungle". Let ManU attack a solid defence until they get tired (Is that all you got George? ), then introduce Serginho and Cafu and go for the knock-out

It will be a classic!

BBC
Gazzetta
Goal.com Preview
Repubblica: All'Old Trafford
SoccerNet: Police arrest AC Milan staff member
Sporting Life: Maldini's High Esteem For United
Tribal Football: AC Milan ace Kaka: Man Utd are a frightening team
UEFA: Big Guns Set For Dramatic Night

FORZA MILAN

My Last word ACM wil draw 1-1 I`m afraid Milan couldn`t pass 1/8 finals!
BUTFORZA MILAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! FORZA ROSSONERI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This match will be very, very even but it will also be more than difficult for us just to get away from Old Trafford with a single point.

We have a strong team, even without Sheva, and can beat anyone - home and away, but this is Champions League and homeground means sooooo much.

Take a look at these statistics I have gathered:

- If we look at the 16 teams that have qualified from the groups their total record at home says 37 wins, 10 draws and just 1 defeat. Of course some of the teams in the groups are weaker than the teams left, but we are still dealing with teams that very seldom lose at home. Yesterdays matches just underlined this fact... 4 matches ending in 4 victories for the hometeams

- United have now played 22 matches in a row without loosing an european match at Old Trafford - those 22 matches have given 18 wins and 4 draws.

- Milan have played 9 games in England and have failed to win just a single one of them.

Still I have faith in the boys, we can get a positive result from tonights match, but we need all players to be at their best and some luck.

I will be satisfied with a small defeat with us scoring, like 2-1. Drawing 1-1 or higher would be perfect while 0-0 would be OK, but nothing more. A win would be out of this world, but I can´t see us do that

Hopefully Carlo will field a team that can hold on to the ball and that bring the play to Uniteds half (one with only Gattuso as ballwinner, gamdestroyer), instead of a team that just stands back and tries to destroy Uniteds play - I am of course talking about the partnership of Gattuso and Ambrosini.

My team would be:

Dida - Cafu, Nesta, Maldini, Kaladze - Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf - Rui, Kaká - Crespo.

I hope Carlo doesn´t field Stam. First of all he has been injured and in the last matches he hasn´t played that well. Second I think Nesta, Maldini are the best partnership for our central defense and they allways play well together in the big matches. Third I think Kaladze has more speed and can shut down Ronaldo better than Maldini.

My optimistic guess of the result: 1-1, Seedorf scoring.

Originally Posted by ACMILAN1983

The time has finally come. The buzz of the CL is back and were coming into the match with a lot of enthusiasm.

Its not the same tie we expected in December, BUT, we still have the qualities and abilities to beat Man U.

Defensively, Man U are quite frail and they will rely on Keane in particular to break down our attacks.

Offensively, United are very strong at the moment, and we'll need to be at our best to stop them. Their wing play is good and this is an area we really need to be careful. Ronaldo and Giggs are major threats and will try to run rings around our fullbacks. United's midfield is strong too and this is an area we need to dominate. I agree with those who say play XMas tree formation, as it will allow us to dominate the midfield and also allow more stronger and effective attacking plays, as JDT and Crespo lately haven't helped in this area anywhere near enough when together.

Defensively, our side is strong, as we've been far more solid in recent weeks, despite the "not so good" performances and this will be a key factor in victory.

As Ancelotti has stated, Utd will try to play a high paced game often looking to the wings and Scholes and Rooney for inspiration. Our aim should be to hold possession and frustrate united. This means a high pressure game will be needed to stop the flow of Utd's game and stop them from creating attacks and building momentum.

However, Utd will try the same and play a high pressure game. This means we must control the pace of the game too and dictate play as much as possible!

Although this match is a very tough prospect, we have the qualities to beat anyone, and Man U are no different!

Lets hope for a win, and at the very least a score draw!

FORZA MILAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!

WE'VE CONCEDED THE SAME NUMBER OF GOALS AS A.C. AND PLAYED TWO MORE GAMES FRAILTY IS EQUAL I'D SAY

Good luck my beloved, may you share the ferocity of a wild beast with the finesse of a ballet dancer (obviously if Laursen was still playing for us I would have to rescind the last part, and Roque Junior and Bierhoff, what was he like? the only player whose first touch was a debatable shot).

I can't watch the game, because our local TV shows Barca-Chelsea..

We'll win, I hope..it's gonna be a tight match..one goal will decide..and it'll be scored by Milan..
Come on..

Forza Milan !!!

Crespo My Hero!!!

As I said ! One goal..Hernan..0-1