Milan Looks At Repeating History

Its Manchester 1 - 0 AC Milan after the first leg of the UEFA last 16 knockout stage. iSporter Siddharth Panjwani writes his thoughts on the second leg.

mu_ac

Italian soccer giant AC Milan has always got the better of defending Barclays Premier League holder Manchester United in the knock-out stages of Champions League and would want to continue the trend, when the two teams square off in the second leg of their Round of 16 match at Old Trafford on March 10.

AC Milan had a dream start at home in the first leg when Ronaldinho gave them the lead just 3 minutes into the game. Milan dominated the first half but Paul Scholes managed a lucky equaliser just before the break which rejuvenated Manchester United and they came back firing in the second half with Wayne Rooney heading in two goals, as the Italian club’s defence was opened up time and time again. Just when Milan seemed to be out of the contest, substitute Clarence Seedorf scored in the ending moments of the first leg to give his team hope as they travel to Old Trafford trailing 2-3.

Milan have had solid three weeks in the Serie A with away wins against Bari and Fiorentina, a home win against Atalanta and a 0-0 draw against Roma on Saturday. Milan will look to attack from the word go at Old Trafford with former Manchester United star David Beckham curling in crosses to the in-form Pato and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

Huntelaar, who has only started on six occasions for Milan in the 2009-10 season, has the best goal to game ratio at the club. He said: “I would like to play with two strikers plus Pato and Ronaldinho. We have to score at least two goals. We have to surprise them. They will think that the Italians will wait. If we attack them, we have a good chance.”

All eyes will be on Beckham as he returns to Old Trafford for the first time in seven years. This is what Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had to say of Beckham’s return: “David has experience. He has over 100 caps for England and has played for Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United. It is the same experience as the likes of Alessandro Nesta, Filipo Inzaghi and Clarence Seedorf. They all have that experience that Milan brings and I hope he is not celebrating at the end.”

Milan coach Leonardo might use Beckham on the right flank if Pato does not recover from his thigh twinge in time. Pato pulled up during Milan’s match against Atalanta and it was initially feared that he had a serious strain. It is a race against time for him to be ready for Wednesday’s game at Old Trafford.

Asked about the big clash, Milan’s manager Leonardo said, “Ferguson's team is coming back from a tricky period. There are players that are slowly coming back from injury but it is a well-organized side. But we are a team who try to score goals and to change our identity gets complicated. This desire to score goals is inherent; it is our identity."

Milan will have to reverse a 2-3 deficit at Old Trafford this week to advance to the quarter finals of the Champions League. The Italian giants have to be well organised at the back against the pace of the Red Devils’ forward line. Milan go in with a slight advantage as the hosts would be without Michael Carrick after his late sending off in the first leg and United’s talisman Wayne Rooney is a doubtful starter following his recent knee injury.

Ronaldinho will again have to play beyond his potential as he is the spearhead of Milan’s attack. He was the star at San Siro and will have to repeat the same for Milan to stand a chance of advancing in the tournament.