UEFA Champions League – First Half review: A.C Milan versus Real Madrid
A.C Milan and Real Madrid played out an interesting first half of football at the San Siro stadium in Italy as both the teams faced each other for the second time in the group stage of the prestigious European tournament. Madrid
won the first match between the two teams, a couple of weeks ago as they battered the seven time European Cup winners by two goals to nil. The Spanish giants started the match in a much brighter fashion than the home team as they almost opened the scoring
in the 4th minute of the match.
It was Pepe, the Real Madrid defender who connected accurately with a Xabi Alonso pass but his header struck the ground and then looped over the bar much to the relief of all the Milanese fans in the stadium.
Madrid built upon their lightening start in the 9th minute as Gonzalo Higuain tested Christian Abbiati in the A.C Milan goal with his curling shot from the left hand side of Milan’s penalty area. The Italian goalkeeper
was up to the task as he palmed the ball away from the danger area as the move subsided in intensity. In the 12th minute, Angel Di Maria had a glorious chance to get the first goal of the match for Madrid but after he outpaced and out-tricked Zambrotta
on the right side of Milan’s defense, the Argentinean winger skewed his shot wide and thus the scoreline remained at nil all.
In the 19th minute of the match, it was Alessandro Pirlo who came to Milan’s rescue as he cleared the ball of his team’s own goal line to deny Madrid a sure shot goal. It was heroic stuff by the Italian national who
is known more for his creative abilities rather than his defensive astuteness. In the 23rd minute of the match, Cristiano Ronaldo went down in pain as he was apparently struck on his face by an A.C Milan player but the replays clearly showed that
the Portuguese was play-acting to get his opponent booked.
Right before Ronaldo tried to influence the referee Howard Webb, Ibrahimovic forced Iker Casillas into a fine save in the Real Madrid goal after the Swedish striker had dispatched a Kevin Prince Boateng shot towards the Los Blancos
goal. In the 27th minute of the first half, it was Boateng, the Ghanaian midfielder who saw the first yellow card of the match as he committed to a dangerously late challenge on Marcelo da Silva, the Real Madrid left wing back. After having shaky
start to the match, the men in red i.e. A.C Milan started to work their way back into the match through intricate passing and cohesive movement.
In the 35th minute, Milan had their best chance of the first half to gain an advantage over their Spanish opponents as Ronaldinho lofted a wonderful ball over the top of the Madrid defense for Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The
Swede tried to chip the on-rushing Iker Casillas but his shot was off the target in the end. It was a poor finish for the striker and it was clear from the crowd’s reaction that they had expected the Rossoneri forward to do better than he did.
However, it was Madrid, who had the last laugh before the half time whistle rung aloud at the San Siro Stadium as their striker Gonzalo Higuain pounced on a pass from Angel Di Maria to give his team the lead. It was a fantastically
taken chance as the Argentinean duo combined with efficiency to fire their team in front. Higuain’s strike was the last proper action in the first half of the match as the first period came to an end with the score line at 1-0, in favor of Jose Mourinho’s
Real Madrid.
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