Five Reasons why AC Milan won’t win the Champions League (Part 1)
The history of UEFA Champions League was on the San Siro pitch last night. AC Milan and Real Madrid went to head-to-head in a truly enthralling fixture. Both sides were unable to keep errors out of their games as the match ended with a
2 – 2 score line; ultimately football becoming the winner.
Los Galacticos played really well for an away side while Milan looked threatening in spells. The introduction of Inazghi however, turned the tide. The Legendary poacher scored a deadly braced and Rossoneri were nearly home only to be stunned
by a late Pedro Leon equaliser.
Even though Milan played reasonably well last night, the performance was far from perfect. Such shortcomings, if not dealt in coming weeks, will seriously dent Allegri’s continental ambitions.
Rossoneri lack the quality in goal
There was a time when San Siro was a true fortress. Teams from across the continent would come with ambition only to leave with their tales hanging. Such a feat was achieved largely due to the legendary defenders Milan has had over the
years. AC Milan gloves men have little or no part to play in that success. Goalkeeping has always been AC Milan Achilles’ Heel. Even when the likes of Maldini, Stam and Cafu graced the San Siro pitch, Rossoneri lacked a world class goalkeeper. Even in the
last decade, when AC Milan was the team to beat in Champions League, Rossoneri had poor custodians. The likes of Dida and Zijo Kalac were disasters waiting to happen. Cristian Abbiati, arguably better than the two, is no Gianluigi Buffon either. The player
is a good shot stopper – so was Dida – but his aerial ability is abysmal. Abbiati never challenges for the ball on crosses, even when he does, it’s a half hearted punch more often than not. Also, Abbiati is extremely slow coming off his line when smothering
a loose ball. In short, the custodian has more weaknesses than he has strengths and Milan, for all their pedigree, are not going anywhere in this competition.
Rossoneri full backs are poor
The position of fullback is one of the most critical roles in football. Today’s marauding full backs not only defend on the flanks, they also give an extra option to wingers on the overlap; example at hand being a certain Dani Alves. The
Blaugrana full back’s relentless attacking gives little Leo the licence to roam around. Ashley Cole, Patrice Evra and Philipe Lahm are prime examples of quality full backs who manage to bring a new dimension to their teams’ attack.
At San Siro, you would be hard-pressed finding a quality full back. Luca Antonini and Ignzaio Abate are so poor defensively that they make Jean-Alain Boumsong look like Paolo Maldini. Granted, Abate performed admirably last night against
an in-form Ronaldo, such performances happen all too rarely to be taken seriously.
Moving on to older players, Zambrotta and Oddo are clearly in the twilights of their respective careers and simply don’t have the legs to perform at the highest level. Bonera, meanwhile, is simply not good enough to don a Milan jersey.
When Milan won the coveted cup in 2007, Jankulovski and Oddo were performing on all fronts; arguably running on last few drops remaining in their tanks for they have been poor ever since.
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