UEFA Champions League – Full time review: A.C Milan versus Real Madrid
Real Madrid’s line up; 1-Iker Casillas; 4-Sergio Ramos, 2-Ricardo Carvalho, 3-Pepe, 12-Marcelo; 24-Sami Khedira, 14-Xabi Alonso; 22-Angel Di Maria, 23-Mesut Ozil, 7-Cristiano Ronaldo; 20-Gonzalo Higuain.
A.C Milan’s line up; 32-Christian Abbiati; 20-Ignazio Abate, 33-Thiago Silva, 13-Alessandro Nesta, 19-Gianluca Zambrotta; 8-Gennaro Gattuso, 21-Andrea Pirlo, 27-Kevin-Prince Boateng; 7-Alexandre Pato, 11-Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 80-Ronaldinho.
Real Madrid had a lightening start to the match as in the 9thminute 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 defence, the Argentinean winger skewed his shot wide and thus the score line 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.
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 favour of Jose Mourinho’s Real
Madrid.
After getting the lead just before the half ended, Madrid started the second half in characteristically quick fashion as in the 46thminute, Cristiano Ronaldo’s powerful shot looked destined for the top corner but it was Abbiati
who tipped the ball away for a corner kick to Real Madrid. Following Ronaldo’s effort on goal, the tempo of the game died down a bit as Madrid looked to calm things down a bit by maintaining control of the ball whereas Milan strived to hurry the visitors into
mistakes.
In the 55th minute of the match, Abate became the second player to go into the referee Howard Webb’s book on the night from Milan’s side as the full back was penalized for his late tackle on Cristiano Ronaldo. 56th minute
of the match saw Ibrahimovic follow his team mate, Abate’s example into the Howard Webb’s book as well. In the 58th minute, A.C Milan made their first substitution of the night as their manager Massimiliano Allegri replaced Ronaldinho
with Filippo Inzaghi.
This change paid immediate dividends for Milan who got their equalizing goal in the 66th minute of the match. Real Madrid’s defender Pepe made a mistake and Ibrahimovic pounced to gain back possession near the Madrid
penalty area, the Swede then found Inzaghi inside the penalty area as the veteran Italian striker headed the ball into Casillas’s net with ease. If Inzaghi surprised everyone with his first goal, his second goal in the 78th minute came
as a shock to most as well as the striker was in the right place at the right time to take advantage of a mistake by Iker Casillas. Inzaghi’s second goal gave Milan, the lead.
Real made an attacking substitution in the 80th minute as Pedro Leon replaced Pepe on the field and the amount of confidence shown by Mourinho in the Spanish winger paid off right at the end as Real Madrid grabbed
an equalizer in the 93rd minute of the match. Pedro Leon scored the goal which allowed the Los Blancos to grab a draw from the jaws of defeat as the match eventually ended at the score line of 2-2.
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