Champions League Review: Did United Get Out Of Jail? …
After United’s Champions League feast of football, are there now crumbs of comfort for a defeated AC Milan?
As noted within these pages and elsewhere, United only moved towards their 3-2 triumph once Gennaro Gattuso left the field injured early in the second half.
The Italians had gradually taken command of the game after the early setback of goalkeeper Dida’s howler, with Gattuso’s tackling, intelligent distribution and positioning instrumental in building the platform for the showcase of Kaka’s gifts.
The midfield substitute Brocchi proved no replacement for Gattuso and United were able to claw their way back into the game. Carrick and Fletcher became more prominent and United’s midfield was able to get closer to the attack. United poured forward in wave after wave as Milan wilted. It is United who now stand more firmly on the brink of an improbable European final.
This is certainly the view of a despondent Carlo Ancelotti. “We were foolish and gifted United the victory when a draw was probably the more accurate reflection of the game,” he said. “We fell back in the final stages, couldn’t move the ball around the same way and gave away a silly deciding goal in stoppages. Manchester United probably do have a slight advantage.”
His team may take heart from its fine performance until Gattuso’s injury. The striker Kaka was as good as advertised and might have put the game beyond United’s reach if his second half shooting had matched the ruthlessness he showed in the first 45 minutes.
Not surprisingly, all Milan hopes Gattuso will be fit for next week’s return match. The midfielder is in the mood to oblige.
“I will do everything I can to play at the San Siro,” Gattuso revealed. “This result burns. We are really angry. But do not fear because in the return leg we still have a chance.”
Milan may bridle with disappointment but that should not fuel the suspicion that United ‘got out of jail.’ Five first choice regulars were missing from the United team which pounded Milan for most of the second half. The ageing legs of the visitors could find no answer to the pace and power of United’s game, giving advance notice of the real danger United will pose on the counter attack at the San Siro next week.
Moreover, the result has surely had the impact of the 3-3 draw United achieved against Barcelona in 1998. It announced, beyond question, the return of a European powerhouse. After last year’s disastrous campaign and the nonsense of this term’s defeats in Copenhagen and Glasgow, United have shown that they can compete with teams of top pedigree and can win.
Sir Alex also deserves credit for sticking with a tactical plan that most observers concluded played not to United’s strengths. Vindication came of course with the ‘Sacking of Roma’ but the manager will have taken even greater satisfaction from his team’s return after going 2-1 down.
“I told them at half-time to keep going and to keep playing at that speed as they would make a difference,” Sir Alex revealed. “There were mistakes and some bad decision-making from us in the final third but we also created some great football and we showed we have the quality to go on and win this tournament. It is not going to be easy in Milan, but it is not going to be easy for Milan either, and we have an outstanding chance.”
United can look to the excellence of Scholes and despite a shaky start, the sturdiness of their defensive shield but it is striker Wayne Rooney who emerged as the real winner from a wonderful advert for the Champions league format. The striker was in danger of earning a reputation for being the tormentor of lesser teams, who found the way to goal in big matches as clear as candlelight on a foggy day in London town. Now after two goals, the second an act of superb, instinctive brilliance, Rooney has served notice that his world class talent has not withered. In so doing, he added substance to the view that he and Ronaldo give United possession of the two most enterprising terrors in Europe, who could claim glory in Athens next month.
For now, a wounded Milan pose a formidable obstacle to Athenean dreaming. Bring on 2 May!
