BATE Borisov-Milan: Moving on?

This match sees Milan on the verge of progressing to the Round of 16, and it also sees BATE on the verge of being eliminated. So, depending on the corresponding results of the Plzen-Barcelona match, while Milan could be moving on with a win, BATE could be moving on out of the tournament with a loss. It’s a battle of who wants it most, Milan with their eyes firmly fixed on Champions League glory this year, and BATE desperate for survival.

Roma 2, Milan 3: The Return of the Champions

This fixture has long been a low-scoring one. In fact I read somewhere that no more than 2 goals had been scored by both teams in this fixture since 1998. But all of that went out the window with 5 goals scored today, in what is typically a very frustrating match. And for the first time in a while, Milan took 3 points in Rome. Certainly in the Stadio Olimpico tonight, they involuntarily welcomed the return of the champions.

Roma-Milan Preview: Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

I am eagerly awaiting Saturday’s match. Even if I’ve been disappointed in the past, the Roma match is one I always want to win. I’m not sure exactly what it is, maybe it’s that they have won more of our fixtures lately, but I get a little excited at the opportunity to turn them into whimpering little wolf pups.

Milan 4, Parma 1: The Nocerino Show

In my preview post, I suggested that Ibrahimovic would get the hat trick in this match to follow Kevin Prince Boateng’s performance on the weekend. But I was wrong. While Ibra did score, it was Nocerino’s hat trick that elevated Milan to 5th on the table, 2 points shy of leaders Juventus. Benvenuto al Milan, Nocerino!

Milan-Parma Preview: Something to Prove

Milan are coming off of a win on the weekend that was nothing short of miraculous. But the reason for the miracle was the worst half of football they have played in a very long time, having conceded three unanswered goals to 19th place Lecce. Wednesday’s match will give them the chance to show whether or not that first half was a fluke or a huge red flag on the season. Meanwhile Parma, sitting 14th in the table with three wins and four losses will also be looking for some redemption by taking down another Scudetto contender and earning a much needed three points. It seems that both teams have something to prove.

Keeping with former Parma sponsor Parmalat’s ad campaign featuring adorable little ones

in cute animal costumes, I thought Giovinco could help sell some milk in Parma's colors.

Certainly, the costume was the right size.

Lecce 3, Milan 4: Prince Charming

Okay, so imagine there was this damsel in distress. She woke up at 3:30 am to see her beloved team play, only something went dreadfully wrong and her team were down 3-0 at the half to 19th place Lecce. Never did she need a hero like she did on this day. Luckily for her, there was someone who could rescue her from her misery. With a 15 minute hat trick, she was rescued by Prince Charming, aka Kevin Prince Boateng. And his trusty knight Sir Yepes.

Lecce-Milan Preview: Circus Time

I cannot help it. Every time I see Lecce’s home uniforms, the circus music starts going through my head. And even though we sit in the lower half of the table right along our yellow and red striped friends, we are on the climb and they are… well, they are in deep trouble already. So let’s go to the circus and play like we did vs. Palermo with a convincing win and maybe some extra goals to help our goal differential. Everyone likes a circus, right?

 

Milan 2, BATE Borisov 0: The Unbeautiful Game

The scoreline may seem convincing, but the way Milan played tonight was not so much so. Even the stats are a little misleading, as Milan had 60% possession and took 28 shots. The clue to the less than convincing part was that of those 28 shots, only 5 were on goal. And the truly unbeautiful part was the foul count. Milan had 21 fouls, BATE had 19. However in the end, the result is the most important part. So pretty or not, we’ll take it.

Ibra: "You can have a little bit of this action, too, Bonera, when you start scoring instead of conceding."

Milan-BATE Borisov Preview: Start Your Engines

It’s not so hard to write about Serie A, I watch so many games I’m surprised my husband hasn’t left me yet. But in the Champions League, we meet teams that even the interwebs seem to know little about. However, that is not the case with BATE Borisov. I actually was able to learn quite a bit online about them. Enough to know there is one word you should know about them: Tractors.

Milan 3, Palermo 0: The Awakening

After struggling against both injury and a tough schedule so far this season, this match was highly anticipated as a litmus test for the reigning Serie A champions. A litmus test that was passed with flying colors. Not even putting Bonera on the pitch for nearly 60 minutes could stop Milan’s big comeback. No, tonight would be the Awakening, a remembrance of our winning ways.

Winning makes Allegri happy. Very, very happy.

Milan-Palermo Preview: Starving

Palermo’s owner, Maurizio Zamparini, certainly has a good sense of humor. He appointed current coach Devis Mangia, whose last name literally means “eat,” just like you may have been implored by your nonna repetitively, “Mangia! Mangia!” But just because Palermo have made a meal out of us in the past, it doesn’t mean we’ll let them do it again. Sorry, boys, the kitchen is closed. We’re sending you back home starving.

Miglaccio hungry for goals? Not today.

(Grazie a Sposato al Nemico per l'arte)

Scudetto Repeat Poll

After getting off to a rough start, many are doubting that Milan will repeat their title run from last year. With 10 of 15 points available dropped in the first 5 matches, it’s easy to see why the doubt. However when you look at the injury Armegeddon we’ve had as well as a schedule that’s been fairly tough so far, maybe it’s not quite time to give up hope just yet.

The Ghanaian Prince

People may not realize that Milan is flush with royalty. There is El Shaarawy, “il Faraone,” Aquilani, “il Principino” or “the little Prince,” and there is our Ghanaian Prince, Kevin Prince Boateng. All of these “royal” players wear the same red and black striped jersey, yet none of them are created equal. While they all bring their own talents and abilities to the team, there is only one who has a royal title in his legal name, and that is Kevin Prince Boateng.

A Little T & A

So even though it’s the International Break, I thought we could talk about a little Trequartista & Attack, or T & A. (Did you think this would be about something else? Get your mind out of the gutter!) Despite conceding way too many goals already, it’s our attack that concerns me the most, more specifically getting the ball forward.

Alright, a little gratuitous Primavera "A" for you. Certainly Lucio enjoyed it.

Dreaded Locks

Footballers are synonymous with hairstyle blunders. In fact, the list of horrifying coifs is probably longer than the list of players who have won the World Cup. While some hairstyles are iconic (Ruud Gullit’s dreadlocks come to mind) others are the source of visual nightmares.

The Last Man Standing

A wise friend of mine who was a goalkeeper for many years before coaching taught me, “If the ball winds up in the back of the net, it had to pass 10 of your teammates first.” For some people, this may sound like a copout. But if you’ve ever stood between the ball and the net alone with only a pair of gloves for protection, you’ll know that she was right. The keeper truly is the last man standing.

Not today, shorty!

Juventus 2, Milan 0: Shellshocked

As much as I had hoped things would turn our way, it really was far fetched to think we would come out of Juve’s shiny new stadium with 3 points. Carrying double digit injuries, playing in Champions League, and not really even being able to find our footing so far this season, we seemed a bit shellshocked tonight.

Ibra so wanted to score against his former club...