UCL SF 1st Leg: Manchester United vs. Milan

Originally Posted by OCmilano

I watched the game and I honestly thought we played well with what we have.. But we lost steam 10 min. into the second half.. I hope we play hard @ the San Siro and pull off a win and proceed to Athens. Can someone just tell me the scorelines that will get us through please...

1:0, 2:1 or any win by 2 or more goals difference

3:2 means Overtime and Milan will be eliminated on away goals rule if they win 4:3 or 5:4 .

as long as ManU don't score 2 or more away goals, any win would get us thru.
If ManU scores 2+ away goals, Milan would have to win by 2 clear goals to go thru (like for instance 4-2, 5-3 etc).
the only result to get us to PKs is 3-2.

So basically, we must not allow ManU more than 1 away goal at the SS otherwise it would get complicated as we'd need to score a lot of goals in return.

Originally Posted by drucurl

See this is what i don't get. I criticize gila, i'm unbalanced. Others can wash their tongues on dida and not a sound! So we rather blame kaka and co than a guy who didn't touch the ball. Smooth what can i say? To each his own. Tony your true colours as an evil juve fan are exposed why didn't you include inzaghi on your list? Could it be that maybe just maybe we would have seen a bit more from him?

The entire team was at fault for shutting down in the second half. Not just Gilardino..not just Brocchi..not just Nesta..not just Ancelotti..not just JDT/any other scapegoat one can find. We just have this problem of keeping leads. The Dida comments are bad, yes, but you PRIDE yourself on being an 'anti Gila member'. I don't see anyone (beside mzk) who is so outrageously against a player. Before you label me a 'Gila fan' let me tell you that I do believe he had a bad game and has had his fair share of bad games this season. I just don't see it necessary to say so in every thread, from Transfers to Players to Match threads. That's where the problem is. Nobody's saying(well at least I'm not saying) that you can't believe he's a bad player. You're entitled to your opinion as is everyone. You just don't have to be so repetitive/forceful about it. It's almost like you want to persuade everyone else to see things your way, and they are wrong because they don't.

Did anyone else see or was it just be but on rooneys 1st goal did he handball it to control the ball?

Maybe it's been talked to death before, but given the drama of pre-season, I am extremely pleased with a semi-final spot itself.

Of course, I want to win.

But let us forget the extreme conditions that Milan had to ensure to get here. Not just the 8 points, but the loss of the crucial transfer season, plus Sheva. Simple words, but no simple meaning.

For that, I would say that what the team has achieved in this Champions League has been very satisfying. To see Milan finally getting into their groove this season just reminds me why I support Milan in the first place.

Nobody can guarantee that they will win against Man Utd, but I am very sure that we have a team which will not give up till the last drop of sweat.

We just need to keep plugging away and keeping the faith. Aren't we all here for that reason?

Originally Posted by Mystik

The entire team was at fault for shutting down in the second half. Not just Gilardino..not just Brocchi..not just Nesta..not just Ancelotti..not just JDT/any other scapegoat one can find. We just have this problem of keeping leads. The Dida comments are bad, yes, but you PRIDE yourself on being an 'anti Gila member'. I don't see anyone (beside mzk) who is so outrageously against a player. Before you label me a 'Gila fan' let me tell you that I do believe he had a bad game and has had his fair share of bad games this season. I just don't see it necessary to say so in every thread, from Transfers to Players to Match threads. That's where the problem is. Nobody's saying(well at least I'm not saying) that you can't believe he's a bad player. You're entitled to your opinion as is everyone. You just don't have to be so repetitive/forceful about it. It's almost like you want to persuade everyone else to see things your way, and they are wrong because they don't.

Well said. Milan loss steam by the 70th minute. Maybe it's Gattusso, maybe Maldini ... maybe it's just tired players.

Originally Posted by OCmilano

I watched the game and I honestly thought we played well with what we have.. But we lost steam 10 min. into the second half.. I hope we play hard @ the San Siro and pull off a win and proceed to Athens. Can someone just tell me the scorelines that will get us through please...

1-0
2-0
2-1
4-1
7-1
10-1
10-8
56-54

or what people have said before me: a win by two goals or more, or a 1-0 or 2-1.

anyone notice dida could not kick past the half way line at points hes so fooking useless

I can take constructive criticism of Dida, but statements like the bolded above are idiotic and just anger the hell out of me.

I just watched the first half (taped) and i have to say Man U played a very fast game and could have scored a lot more. Thanks to Dida, the score line wasn't 3-2 at the end of the first half. Gila cannot be entirely blamed as he hardly had any service.

People should recall that when Milan's strikers have scored, the service was fantastic - remember the Inzaghi show against Bayern a few years ago - with service coming from Serginho. The Inzaghi goal against Bayern in the QF was from service from Seedorf. Heck, Kaka's 2nd goal against Man Utd was simply down to the sheer brilliance of the man. I can dare say 2 or 3 other world class players can do what Kaka did for the 2nd goal - and I don't know who they are

Gila is really not to be blamed and neither is Dida - if it wasn't for Dida, the score line would have been a lot worse and we wouldn't have a prayer in the 2nd leg. As for Gila, as I mentioned earlier, he doesn't have much pedigree in Europe but someday he will. He just needs to retain his confidence and we, as Milan fans, as frustrating as it can be that he hasn't picked up the reins from $hevchenko, someday he will. Not in 2 weeks, but maybe in a year. Just remember the criticism levelled at him now, when he scores important goals a few years down the road. Remember, Milan didn't purchase Gila for immediate success like they did with Ronaldo. Gila, like Kaka, was a long term investment. Kaka is returning on the investment now - Gila will someday. Just like Gourcouff will too.

Patience my friends. Support the team in defeat. For instant gratification is not long lasting. The pleasure is so much sweeter when you suffer through the defeats to bask in the glory of victory that has been uncorked like vintage wine.

wow, what a beautiful speech

And that guy who said Dida's goal kicks didn't cross the half-way line - I paid special attention to his goal-kicks, since I watched the game after I read the comment there... ALL HIS GOALKICKS PASSED THE HALF-WAY LINE.

And seriously, don't take anything away from Man Utd - they played well and deserved the scoreline. And Ronaldo is just a one-trick pony.

As for those who said Dida was useless - watch the save he made against Fletcher in the 18th min of the 2nd half. Score at that point should have been 4-2 for Man U were it not for Dida.

Originally Posted by Nadir

Patience my friends. Support the team in defeat. For instant gratification is not long lasting. The pleasure is so much sweeter when you suffer through the defeats to bask in the glory of victory that has been uncorked like vintage wine.

Nice to see you posting on here again.

I'll quit beating a dead horse, I promise, but I finally saw the opener for the first time, then replayed it over and over again. My conclusion: How Dida takes 100% of the blame while there's no mention of Gilardino is beyond me.

The first shot was a header that was an inch from his chest, then suddenly there's a Gila-Heinze-Dida scrum in the box as the latter attempts to retrieve the ball. He was definitely obstructed by Gila (no foul by Heinze), who came careening into the picture as the ball was on the way down. Just before, and after, the ball is tipped into the goal, Gila's forearm is clearly contacting Dida's face the whole time.

My two cents.

Originally Posted by BMWTaylor

Nice to see you posting on here again.

I'll quit beating a dead horse, I promise, but I finally saw the opener for the first time, then replayed it over and over again. My conclusion: How Dida takes 100% of the blame while there's no mention of Gilardino is beyond me.

The first shot was a header that was an inch from his chest, then suddenly there's a Gila-Heinze-Dida scrum in the box as the latter attempts to retrieve the ball. He was definitely obstructed by Gila (no foul by Heinze), who came careening into the picture as the ball was on the way down. Just before, and after, the ball is tipped into the goal, Gila's forearm is clearly contacting Dida's face the whole time.

My two cents.

you can't "blame" gila for the goal! he was trying just as hard to prevent a goal as Dida. It's just one of those things that happens. big deal. Milan aren't Inter - we don't need luck (or a relegated rival, and an 8 point deduction to their other rival) to win titles.

This loss doesn't bother me one bit - Milan can learn from this game and it's only half-time. The 2nd half is in our house and we'll make those fans at Old Trafford see how a real soccer cauldron feels like.

PS: do all replica Man Utd replica jerseys come in XL and XXL? the shots of the fans in the stands seemed to suggest all Man U fans are obese

OK FINAL ASSESSMENT:

I watched the whole game - studied it actually, since I have no life, and my conclusions are as follows:

a) Kudos to Man Utd for a game well played - they played fair and hard and kept Milan off their game. They are aware that the deciding leg is in Milan and played like their survival depended on it - and threw Milan off their game.

b) Milan seemed to have no plan. I am not sure what they would have done if Kaka was not so brilliant. The second half was all Man U. All Milan did was try to contain them - they had nothing to throw at Milan which means....

c) ... Milan's saviour was clearly Dida. His saves on Fletcher, O'Shea and Ronaldo in the 2nd half were decisive. Ronaldo almost scored a specatcular goal which would have gone in if a lesser goalie was between the posts.

d) Rooney's goal at the end just took Dida and the defence by surprise because he fired it so quickly. Good goal.

But this is not the death knell of Milan - unless they continue playing this way. To win the Champions League, they have to play like they did in the first half of the Liverpool final. And that is what they will need against the Red Devils from England in 2 weeks. Can they do it? What do you think I believe?







damn sure they can.

we lost but those that say that C. Ronaldo is the best player in the world are thinking twice after seeing MILAN'S KAKA...I love it when kaka steps on the accelerator and all of a sudden everyone around him seems to turn into little kids trying to catch up to him, hehe, we lost but ManU was not that much superior to Milan, the fact that we lost will give us an extra-motivation at the San Siro