AC Milan general spiel 2.0

[San Paolo]

Mario Balotelli has underlined his support for Inter's bitter city rivals by claiming that the city is all about Milan.

It's no secret Balotelli has supported the Rossoneri since he was a child, and he went to see them in action against Novara in the Coppa Italia, and Manchester United in the Champions League.

While the visits to San Siro caused red faces at Appiano Gentile, Balotelli has stirred up the rivalry even more with his latest views.

"When I think about the city of Milan, all I can think of is [AC] Milan obviously," he told 'MM' magazine as reported by Leggo.

Balotelli claims that his love for Milan grew further when Ronaldo joined the club in 2007.

"My bedroom was full of posters of the 'Fenomeno'," he added.

The Inter hitman will be in action against Hungary on Wednesday in a European Under-21 Championships qualifier.
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Is this kid really one of us or is he just having a joke by annoying the Interisti like he does everybody else, i must say i am warming to the petulant git!

[vtec]

it would be great if he forced inter into selling him to us by refusing to sign a contract extension. imagine a duo of pato and balotelli terrorizing european football for 10 years

[maro]

[vtec]

[San Paolo]

[RomaShield27]

LEONARDO: WE ARE READY
www.sportinglife.com

AC Milan manager Leonardo insists his men are ready for a week which could define their season. Milan face Roma at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday in need of a victory to close the gap on Serie A leaders and fierce city rivals Inter to just one point. And on Wednesday the Rossoneri travel to Old Trafford needing to overturn a 3-2 first-leg deficit against Manchester United in order to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Leonardo said: "Tomorrow night we will play against Roma, who are third in the table, and on Wednesday we will face Manchester United.

"Matches between Milan and the Red Devils are always extraordinary challenges. Milan are in good shape and ready to face these challenges. Inter are four points ahead and I cannot think of any result other than a victory. "Milan have had a difficult start to the championship but this has not led to total exclusion from the title race. Anything can still happen."

Roma need the win too having slipped off the pace last week, when they were held to a 2-2 draw at Napoli after conceding two late goals. After a run of nine straight victories, Roma have stuttered in recent weeks and were dumped out of the Europa League by Panathinaikos. But manager Claudio Ranieri insisted all the pressure is on Milan to overhaul Inter and believes his men can take full advantage.

"Milan are the leading contenders to take the title from Inter and they will fight to keep that position, but it is a burden for them," said Ranieri. We have the advantage of being more calm. We must keep this about ourselves and continue to do well.

"I have to commend my team for what we have done until now, especially against Napoli where we reacted well to our exit from the Europa League. We need the right attitude against Milan and I am proud of my guys because they worked hard. We are on the right track and should continue to do well."

Ranieri will have Luca Toni, David Pizarro and Julio Sergio available while Milan have injury concerns over top scorer Alexandre Pato.

Pato is unlikely to be risked with the game against United looming large in midweek. Milan beat Roma earlier in the season with Pato scoring the winner, but Ranieri warned his men not to take them lightly just because of their injury problems.

"We are talking about a team equipped to do well without players like that. I hope that they are affected by the absences but I think not," Ranieri added. "When we lost to them at the San Siro it was one of the black spots of our season and we went on to lose three straight games. We will do everything possible to erase those memories."

[p_maldini_3]

[San Paolo]

shit 4-3-3 with Hunter as the wide player? or will Dinho be the Seedorf or Kaka in the hole with 2 up front? surely Abate was a more natural choice as a winger unless hes injured.

[p_maldini_3]

[maro]

Milan sucks horsecock. Forza Genoa.

[San Paolo]

I was watching Match of the day last night and they said because Rooney has played twice at Wembly in two weeks the pitch has wrecked his knees and will probably miss our game on wednesday!

[RomaShield27]

[San Paolo]

[RomaShield27]

[San Paolo]

[RomaShield27]

Milan's away trip requires a journey into history
– March 7, 2010 – Miguel Delaney

While they remain bullish about overturning their first leg deficit, the statistics and the Rossoneri's own weak defence makes a win in Old Trafford most unlikely

Who's smiling now: Ronaldinho has continued his recent resurgence in form for Milan
Milan have at least been making all the right sounds. Sure, it's going to be difficult but not impossible. And there was that late home goal, a splinter for Manchester United's peace of mind. Leonardo, Clarence Seedorf and all have made a great play of focusing on that.

But then they have to. Because to dwell on anything else would almost strip them of any drive at all. Like the fact that, to overturn a 3-2 deficit at Old Trafford, Milan are also going to have to overturn a whole lot of history. Astonishingly, in the entire annals of the European Cup and Champions League proper since 1955, only five sides have lost a first leg at home and gone on to win the tie. Milan can at least take heart from the fact they were the first to do it in that opening European Cup season, banishing FC Saarbrucken's 4-3 victory at the San Siro to win 7-5 on aggregate but it hasn't happened since the 1996 semi-final when Ajax ruthlessly undid Panathinaikos's surprising 1-0 win in Amsterdam with a 3-0 crushing. For the record, the other teams to achieve it were Ajax again in the 1969 quarter-final against Benfica, Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest at the same stage in 1980 against Dynamo Berlin and Steaua Bucharest at Croatia Zagreb in the 1993-94 first round. Celtic did manage it against Dynamo Moscow in this season's preliminaries but, as seen, it rarely happens amongst the elite and really only when involving sides – like Ajax '69 and '96 and Nottingham Forest '80 – that possess the finesse to reach the final. This Milan, despite their improvement, still look short of that.

All of which illustrates the true scale of the task they face. As their former striker Maurizio Ganz conceded, "a comeback would mean Milan would have to play a perfect game, do absolutely nothing wrong in defence and win 2-0, which is almost impossible." Zvonimar Boban, meanwhile, has described such a scenario as a "miracle".

The historic difficulty of their particular task, however, also outlines the distortive effects of away goals. Initially introduced to reward teams who had tricky travel arrangements, in this era it kills contests as exciting spectacles much more often than it energises them, such is their psychological weight. Milan, at least, can use that as an ambition at Old Trafford and an early goal could admittedly alter the feeling of the tie entirely. It would leave United precariously balanced on an away-goal lead while trying to prevent Milan getting another, leaving Leonardo's side with nothing to lose.

For that, the coach can take both comfort and discomfort from his side's performance in the first match. Tearing into United from the off, as they did at the San Siro, would appear the exact way to play this second leg. Of that, Leonardo said, "It is not over, as we can still come back and win. We put Manchester United under some serious pressure, demonstrating our style of play." Recent league form up to last night's clash with Roma has also been encouraging, with Ronaldinho maintaining the resurgent form he displayed against United, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar actually scoring a goal that had an effect on a league game and now Alexandre Pato likely to return.

But then Nemanja Vidic is expected to do the same for United and, whatever of Ronaldinho bamboozling the defence with balletic leg movement once more, it appears highly unlikely the English champions' backline can again be so vulnerable. The pressure on them in the first leg, after all, also had a lot to do with tender Alex Ferguson's meddling in midfield and, with that reshuffled, United will not be so wasteful in possession.

Then, of course, there's Wayne Rooney. The counterweight to any imbalances elsewhere. As Seedorf said at the San Siro, "they have Rooney up front and he converts every single chance he gets at the moment. That's the reason why United can afford to play like this."

For all that though, the manner of United's win brought to mind so many European ties they lost before 1999, particularly against the likes of Juventus and Borussia Dortmund. Games they would completely dominate but ultimately see undone by a moment of continental ingenuity from someone like Alen Boksic. The focus then wasn't on the opposition's brittleness – as with United now – but their ruthlessness. That step up in class supposedly beyond United then. Leonardo, for his part, conceded that: "Unfortunately, in the only moment we faced some problems, they were able to find the back of the net."

Even if they get that initial away goal, with Rooney in that form and their own defence not what it was, it's going to take something historic for Milan to go through.

UEFA Champions League last 16 second leg: Manchester United v AC Milan (3-2), Wednesday, 7.45, Old Trafford, Live, RTÉ Two, 7.00

[San Paolo]

basically what the article is saying is we are fecked.

[San Paolo]

[RomaShield27]

'tec, Maldini, as SP raised in the , do we have any idea where RobHood and The Man are, or has anyone tried to get in touch with them? I know they haven't been around in a good while (perhaps not since last year, even), and its a pity for the Milan forum if there are only two or three active members. Any ideas?

[maro]

Milan suckz. Milanisti suck. Pato suckz.