Match Notes: Champions League: AC Milan - Real Madrid: 2-2: Robbery At The San Siro

Savior: Pedro Leon

The whistle for full time blew at the Estadio Giuseppe Meazza, agony on the face of the Milanese players and delight on the faces of Real Madrid players, and a sense of triumph in Jose Mourinho's reaction, I just could not comprehend all this, I had the expression of a man, who was shot and found out that 67% of his belongings were stolen by the mug who shot him.

As I stood near the screen furious at the referee, furious at the linesman, furious at Pepe, and a little furious at San Iker (well not exactly, the man's bailed Real Madrid out so many times, it's hard to be furious at him), I just couldn't understand why the Milan players were looking sad about conceding the second goal to Pedro Leon, when they were second best the whole game, I just couldn't understand why Jose Mourinho wasn't pissed at the team because of the ridiculously long celebration for the second goal and why he was more interested in getting Raul Albiol on!

I just couldn't understand the point in Real Madrid players being SO happy after the second goal, yes, they salvaged a point but still, they just got robbed of 2 points by Milan and the referee, you don't see a man happy that only 33% of his possessions could be recovered from the thief, do you?

Gonzalo Higuain after scoring RM's 700 in CL

I don't know, I still feel cheated, Milan didn't have the class to attack properly, I just didn't understand why Pedro Leon didn't pick the ball and started the game quickly so that Real Madrid could start the hunt for the third, neither did I see that hunger in Jose Mourinho to get back what was rightfully his as he was more interested to get that fourth defender back on the pitch.

I was a little scared when Real Madrid were drawn into the group with AC Milan, I was scared not because they are a good team, no, that wasn't the case at all, I was scared of the dirty tactics they would apply against Real Madrid at the San Siro, even last season, they had made the ground so greasy it was hard for our fast players to keep their footing, and of course there is the dirty tackling tactic, I just didn't want the Real Madrid players to get injured. Safe to say, Milan didn't disappoint in that department.

The match got so depressing at the end, it doesn't even deserve a proper review, all it deserves is the random points of the match, I think are worth noting:

• Gonzalo Higuain was impressive in the game, dropping back very deep in the midfield to get the ball, was working very very hard on and off the ball, deserved another goal, when he skipped two defenders in the second half, but couldn't finish as he slipped off the super slippery turf or when Pirlo cleared his header off the line. If there was a player who deserved that 700th Champions League goal, it was Higuain.
• Pepe looks awesome sometimes and sometimes he looks very poor, in the first goal that Real Madrid conceded, Pepe wasn't in that much pressure that he needed to try that clearance, and to be honest he would have slipped on any other turf too as he was stretching when he was clearing. In all fairness, it wouldn't hurt to try the pairing of Albiol and Carvalho.
• Carvalho is super awesome, genius signing from Jose Mourinho.
• Sami Khedira doesn't get much credit for his work from the Spanish press, but Sami Khedira and Xabi Alonso are making a wonderful partnership which will only get better with time.
• Angel Di Maria is a wonderful player, but he lacks to see what's more logical at the time, he tries ridiculous passes sometimes, but in all fairness, the pass to Higuain was genius, Di Maria will become more logical as he matures with time, his star will only rise.
• Gattuso, Abate, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and even Filippo Inzaghi, should have had two yellow cards, ridiculous challenges from all of them. Zlatan fouled Xabi Alonso many times in the early goings of the match, should have a yellow then and the second for tripping Sergio Ramos. Inzaghi should have had the first yellow as soon as he came on, cynical shove in Xabi's back should have earned him the first card. Abate tripped Cristiano Ronaldo in the second half when he played a wonderful one-two with Ozil, and that should have been Abate's second yellow. Poor refereeing from Howard Webb.
• Inzaghi shouldn't have the second goal, miles offside, it's safe to say, the linesman was blind. FYI, UEFA uses 5 officials for a game.
• Karim Benzema has now officially shaken off his lazy tag, looked lively, dropped deep, chased balls; which was really wonderful to see! He was showing improvements in training already, now that is translating on the pitch, the pass for Pedro Leon showed his amazing understanding.
• The Biggest Positive: Jose Mourinho's team shows a lot of character, and didn't get disheartened when they went 2-1 down and dug deep to get the equalizer.
• The Biggest Negative: The team wastes many many chances, the game should have been put to sleep in the first half, but they couldn't, might come back to haunt them. A positive from the negative; the team creates a whole load of chances.

There's this one last thing I want to say, and it is for AC Milan:

Hala Madrid!

Also published by me on paseocastellana.com

Champions League: AC Milan - Real Madrid: San Siro Preview By Muna

As all of you can see, I have been very very irregular in updating my blog, and it's been a long time since I have written anything, but not to worry, I had talked to Munachismo a long time ago about contributing on the blog, he too unfortunately was kept busy by his school work, so even he couldn't contribute, but now he's free so he's willing to help me out, and I'm greatly thankful to him. You might see a post or two from me soon enough, but in the meantime enjoy this one from Muna.

------------------------------------

Mourinho and his men put up a very thrilling display in the first leg tie against the Italian giants. An encounter that sent the Madrid faithful home with a lot to be proud of. Well, the second leg is at hand and as usual, we’re going down to Italy.

It’s going to be a more tricky encounter considering that the players would be up against a very emotional Milan crowd and more importantly, some tactical changes would be expected from Milan coach, Massimo Allegri.

AC Milan

Here’s AC Milan’s squad list for the game: Abbiati, Zambrotta, Nesta, Thiago Silva, Antonini, Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf, Robinho, Pato, Ibrahimovic, Amelia, Sokratis, Jankulovski, Abate, Flamini, Ronaldinho, Ambrosini, Inzaghi, Boateng.

In the first game, the Italian club began with a formation that looked like this:

--------------------Amelia-----------------
Zambrotta --- Nesta -- Bonera--- Antonini
--------Gattuso --- Pirlo --- Seedorf-------
Pato ------------- Zlatan -------- Ronaldinho


The biggest concern Milanistas had with the midfield trio of Pirlo, Gattuso, and Seedorf was their age and level of speed. Fortunately for us, their fears were made a reality because our rather young midfield outran them throughout the game.

However, I expect Allegri to make some crucial changes to this line up. I’d expect one of the three central midfielders to be replaced with Kevin Prince Boateng ( probably Seedorf) and Robinho to make the cut; he would probably replace Ronaldinho or Pato. Pato is the most likely one to be replaced because his form as of late has disconcerting. Besides, he was marked out of the game by the Madrid defense in the first game.

Thiago Silva will also make the cut after missing the first leg of tie because of an injury. He might give our attackers a run for their money.

Then again, there’s also the issue of motivation. AC Milan came out of a very disappointing loss against Juventus during the weekend and there are two things that could result from that. The first one is that they could lose some confidence in themselves which would lead to sloppy football on their part come Wednesday.

The second one is the direct opposite to the first. They could be more motivated than ever and want to give it to us hard, just to prove a point.

Quite frankly, I think the second one is the case because from what Massimo Allegri has been saying to the press, I can tell he’s pretty confident. Here’s one of his most recent quotes:

"We made too many mistakes in the Bernabeu, and they scored lucky goals."

Yes, they made many mistakes, but blaming luck for the goals we scored is laughable. I think this guy is a good coach, but if he comes out with the same tactical set up he had in Spain, hoping for luck to change sides, then he's in for a very unpleasant surprise.

Real Madrid

Squad list for the game tomorrow : Casillas, Dudek, Adan, Arbeloa, Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Albiol, Marcelo, Mateos, Carvalho, Khedira, Alonso, Ozil, Diarra, Canales, Granero, Pedro Leon, Di Maria, Benzema, Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Kaka, Gago, and Garay are still injured; with Gago being the closest to full recovery and Lass was left out for "coaching decisions." If I were to take a wild guess, I’d say Mourinho is punishing him for his comments during in France during the last international break. For those of you who don’t know what he said, here’s a quote from him:

“I seem to play one in every two games. I want more minutes, and if I am unhappy, then I will draw my own conclusions. I’m not willing to be a spectator. I want to play.”

Well, if this is what he really said, then he cannot say he did not see this coming.

Last time against Milan, Mourinho set up the team like this:

----------------Casillas-------------------
Arbeloa --- Pepe -- Carvalho --- Marcelo
---------Khedira-----Alonso--------------
------------------Ozil---------------------
Di Maria--------------------------Ronaldo
-----------------Higuain-------------------

Two defensive midfielders with Khedira playing a more attacking role than Alonso. By my judgement, Arbeloa had a relatively poor game, considering that every other person was on fire. Sergio Ramos would most likely start tomorrow, but I must say, Sergio’s form has been disheartening recently. I was not impressed at all with his performance during the weekend against Hercules. We can only hope for his form to improve.

I don’t expect too many changes, but rumors have it that Mourinho might be playing the formation he used against Auxerre, which is playing three defensive midfielders with two wingers and a striker.

This would mean Ozil would have to make way for one of M. Diarra or Estaban Granero. This approach would be a more defensive one than our previous games but I won’t complain a lot since this is an away match against one of the big boys in Europe.

But if that formation is not adopted, then expect to see the same players we’ve been seeing for some games now.

I hope I’ve done a decent job here. It’s definitely not one of the best previews you’ve seen, but I think it’s good enough to keep the blog rolling. Hopefully, this would be the first of many other posts from me. I’m predicting a 2-1 win for Madrid. Finally, we can only wish the players a safe journey back from Italy and a good game to embellish it. Hala Madrid!

Muna.

Life Lessons Through Football: FC Barcelona Learn It The Hard Way Through Ibrahimovic & Chygrynskiy

Super-Flop

The season before the last one, FC Barcelona won everything there was to be won, they won the Copa del Ray, the La Liga and the Champions League, but due to Florentino Perez's arrival at Real Madrid and the signings he made, turned the spotlight on Real Madrid.

FC Barcelona didn't like that one bit, they didn't want the spotlight to be taken away from them, so they started critcizing the philosophies of Real Madrid, while making two mega money signings themselves in the form of Dmytro Chygrynskiy & Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Barcelona paid €25 million for Dmytro Chygrynskiy and €45 million plus the star man of last season—Samuel Eto'o (€30-35 million) for Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

But as fate would have it Chygrynskiy & Ibrahimovic both flopped and fell out of favor at the Catalan club.

FC Barcelona sold Dmytro Chygrynskiy to Shaktar Donetsk for €15 million suffering a loss of €10 million.

And after a long soap-opera in the summer, Zlatan Ibrahimovic finally bid farewell to Barcelona as he is now going to join AC Milan for an year on loan and then AC Milan HAVE to purchase Ibrahimovic for a mere €24 million, with FC Barcelona suffering a loss in the range of €50 million.

FC Barcelona were already covered in the central defender deaprtment, so it didn't cost them to find his replacement but they did spend €45 million on David Villa to replace Zlatan.

Now I agree that David Villa is an amazing signing and is better than Samuel Eto'o, but they have spent nearly €100 million on a player that wasn't even required to be replaced.

Now I agree Real Madrid did a lot of stupid things last season, and two namely being Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben, but Real Madrid weren't the "hexacampeons," Barcelona were, why change a system that wins you things?

Even if Barcelona wins 6 trophies in a season, they'll always be jealous of the club in Madrid that wears the royal whites, and this jealousy has cost them more than €100 million, and it doesn't help when your club has to take loans to pay off the salaries of the players.

Kids, now every experience in life teaches us a lesson, this experience teaches us that jealousy is a bad thing and you should not let what others do determine the things you do.

Okay now enough with the life lessons, lets have a laugh at the expense of our dear rivals! And did you hear, Gerard Pique handed in a request to join AC Milan too, I wonder why.........

Hala Madrid!

Remind Me Again, Who's This Thiago Silva You Talk Of?

I think I've seen this guy before, no, probably haven't!

So I've been hearing this name a lot lately, Thigao Silva. It's being used a lot recently by AS & mostly Marca, he's said to be this central defender who'll cost €25 million to Real Madrid, honestly I've never heard of him before!

He's costing €25 million, therefore I presume, he's someone world-class, is captain for his club & country, has mad ball skills, he just looks at the players and they are dispossessed of the ball and is probably so young yet so experienced that the club that owns him don't want to let him go, I'm guessing he's just 17 years old!

I'm just fooling around, I know who Thiago Silva is, I'm just trying to make sense of the €25 million price-tag on a player who's 26, who's club's defense can be ran ragged if 10 men aren't defending or how this guy wasn't even on the list from which the players were selceted for the World Cup by Brazil.

When you repeat a lie for a long time it starts to sound like the truth, and such is the case of Thiago Silva's transfer rumor, Marca (obviously) were the first one's to start this rumor, they repeated it long enough so that more and more sources started to believe it was true and they started running with it.

You ask, why I'm so sure?

Well for starters, one thing I've learnt this transfer window is that it is great that Jose Mourinho has a say in all the transfers, and the other thing is that Jose Mourinho isn't stupid, but obviously Marca is. Jose Mourinho said no to the ludicrous demands of Morrati and Internazionale for Maicon, who's a world-class player and reduced his offer to €22 million for Maicon.

Now explain to me, why a man who isn't willing to go any higher than €22 million for a world-class defender who is a regular for the Brazillian national team would pay €25 million to a virtual unknown (comparatively speaking, of course)?

Got an answer?

I have it, he won't! So Marca should stop wasting our time and theirs too, and come up with something better than this Thiago Silva bull-crap.

And Eduardo Inda, the €17 million for Romelu Lukaku are a good start by the way, you dumbass!

Hala Madrid!