After being well and truly beaten at the Santiago Bernabeu in the group stage match of the UEFA Champions League, AC Milan would have definitely wanted to avenge their defeat when they came up against the stars of Real Madrid tonight, on Real’s return trip
to the San Siro.
The differences in the two teams can be clearly observed by looking at their starting line-ups, even though both of them are no doubt amongst the greatest club sides of the world, Real’s squad at the moment boasts of many young and flashy players, while
Milan have mostly those footballers in their ranks who are older and much more experienced.
Both were going to go for the kill right from the word go. Each of the teams had some good chances in the opening few minutes, with Andrea Pirlo making two headed clearances, one of them off the line from Gonzalo Higuain, and the other from Xabi Alonso,
Angel Di Maria missed an opportunity after a good twisting run, while Gonzalo Higauin again managed to call Milan’s defence into action this time forcing keeper Abbiati to push a shot out of pal.
On the other side of the pitch Zlatan Ibrahimovic also had a good chance to put his side ahead, but Spanish and Real Madrid captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas denied him with his legs.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic then wasted perhaps the best chance of the game a bit later on, when put clear into the box by a cheeky trademark Ronaldinho flick only managing to put the ball wide of the target while trying to lob it over an on-rushing Casillas.
The breakthrough finally came for Real in the 45th minute. The two Argentineans Angel Di Maria and Gonzalo Higuain combined to give Real the lead, when after stringing a number of passes together in the midfield, Di Maria managed feed a good ball
through Milan’s defence to Higuain, who after a fine first touch managed to calmly slot the ball past keeper Abbiatti. The two sides then went into half time at this score with both sides creating and wasting some chances, but Real with what could be a termed
a deserved lead.
AC Milan were quick out of the blocks at the start of the second half and showed more determination on and off the ball, their inability to break Real down however seemed to be raising their tempers as Gattuso, Ibrahimovic and Abate all went into the referee’s
book for some rash challenges.
Coach Massimo Allegri then made what proved to be an inspired substitution taking off Ronaldinho in favour of veteran Italian striker Filippo Inzaghi. The substitution paid dividends almost immediately, as Pepe failed to stop Ibrahimovic who crossed the
ball in from the left hand side which was horribly misjudged and subsequently fumbled by Casillas, allowing Inzaghi to head home from close range.
The second goal for Milan came 10 minutes after the first. Filippo Inzaghi ran onto a ball from a clearly offside position leaving the Real defence for dead, and slid the ball neatly past Iker Casillas to give Milan the lead.
Real did finally managed to get the goal they needed in the 90th minute when substitute Pedro Leon struck a good low shot through the legs of Abbiatti to send Mourinho into raptures. With neither team looking to try too much for a win so late
in the game the match finished at 2-2.
Even though a draw was probably a fair result, Milan would be disappointed not to have held on to their lead at their home ground against one of their toughest rivals.
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