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AC Milan wins the CL

May 23rd, 2007 | By: Jan | 7 Comments »

With luck on their side, I might add… The match against Liverpool was less dramatic then the 2005 finals – what do you expect? – but somewhere the same scenario was lurking… Liverpool played a very good first half, with a fortified midfield, Kuyt as the lone attacker and Gerrard being the delivery-man between midfield and attack. It worked out very well. Only…Liverpool forgot to score. With Tennant wide on the right and the recovered Zenden on left, the tactical plans of Benitez could’ve worked…should’ve worked even, were it not for the sloppy execution of the team. AC Milan was clueless. Keeping 5 (!) men in defense to mark Kuyt, with Gattuso, Pirlo and Seedorf on midfield in an anonymous role… There just didn’t seem to be any danger. But instead of making use of all the space and opportunities, Liverpool couldn’t cash in and in the 45th minute AC Milan was awarded a free-kick.

And whatdoyouknow… Pirlo goes for goal and Pippo “born-in-offside” Inzaghi gets the ball on his arm. Reyna beaten, 1-0 at half time.

In the second half, Liverpool still have many opportunities to create something, but Zenden couldn’t deliver, Tennant was too much in love with the ball and at critical situations, the Reds players made the wrong decisions. AC Milan did what it does best in these situations. Delaying the game, lurking for the counter-attack. With Kewell for the disappointing Zenden and Crouch for Macherano (who played a cracker of a match), Benitez went va banque. But while the Liverpool defense showed signs of cramps, Kaka delivered the ball on a golden platter to Pippo again, who showed that although he may not be the world’s best player he certainly knows how to finish: 2-0.

In the last minutes Dirk Kuyt scored his first CL goal, but it wasn’t to be after that. With only seconds to go, Crouch tried a long distance strike but it was not enough and all too late.

We saw a smart, savvy and very lucky AC Milan playing a happless, hard-working but sometimes naieve Liverpool and winning their fifth CL cup in 20 years (give or take one or two…).

Congrats to an invisible Seedorf and lots of praise for Kuyt, who tackled, pressed, assisted, ran, crossed and even scored….

Game over.

Tags: Clarence Seedorf, Dirk Kuyt, The Netherlands

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Comments

By Igor | May 23rd, 2007 at 4:56 pm

did anyone else think that pippo was offside on the first goal? it looked to me like he was behind the defence before pirlo actually made contact with the ball on the free kick.

Posted from Canada

By carrington | May 23rd, 2007 at 5:08 pm

i still fink seedorf deserved to win the champions league even though he didnt have a good game. he scored goals in both the quaters and the semi finals and was man of the match in both!!

Posted from United Kingdom

By Jan | May 23rd, 2007 at 7:25 pm

I don’t think Pippo was off side, but with him you never know. But he did get the ball on his arm, and although it wasn’t intentional, if it goes in the ref should whistle. And Kuyt was stopped for off side in the 2nd half while the replay showed he was on. It goes to show again, that we need electronic support for these types of decisions. Too hard for a linesman really…

And Carrington, you are right, Seedorf can look back to a wonderful CL campaign.

Posted from Australia

By ferenc | May 24th, 2007 at 2:42 am

clarence deserved it even if yesterday he wasn’t as food as again mu or bayern. the whole milan wasn’t too good (especially maldini,gattuso,ambrosini),but liverpool played a very poor performance. in other words: the game was quite boring. but tactically and technically milab was better.

i’m happy that kuyt scored pool’s goal. but don’t think that pippo used his hand. i really loved to see pippo scoring twice against these behemot liverpoodlian defensers.

Posted from Hungary

By ferenc | May 24th, 2007 at 2:44 am

benitez should have introduce crouch earlier.

Posted from Hungary

By stephen | May 24th, 2007 at 10:34 am

@ferenc: I don’t agree that Milan was better. Liverpool virtually took Kaka and Seedorf out of the game. They were non-existent until Kaka’s through ball to Inzaghi. Other than that, they had one lucky free kick. Liverpool created much more chances, especially in the first half. Pennant was giving them fits on the right side. They could have easily had one or two goals in the first 45. I thought Gerrard could have done better with his chance. He tried to finesse it in. I bit more pace on that shot, and it think it gets by Dida. Benetiz waited way too long for his tactical changes. Crouch should have come in 15-20 minutes ealier than he did. Zenden and Kuyt were awful.

Posted from United States

By Jan | May 24th, 2007 at 7:32 pm

Yeah Stephen, I saw the same 1st half as you . I think Liverpool was more dominant but clumsy in terms of scoring. Milan (Inzaghi) only needs half a chance to score. Liverpool needed 4 or 5 good opps to score one in the last minutes. I do not agree with your Kuyt remark (see post on English Press). But I guess we don’t have to agree all the time