It
wasn’t pretty, it was very improbable, and honestly almost inexplicable. But as
I have said before, the Champions League is in Milan’s blood. No amount of
experienced or talented players leaving, no players being betrayed and sold, no
management epic fails, no coach who is frankly on the wrong side of the fine
line that is sanity could change our fate. Tonight, with only a few moments of
brilliance and a lot of ugly football, Milan secured their place in the Round
of 16 along with Málaga. Qualified.
The
first half was not pretty. It reminded me of the entire game at the San Siro,
which also ended in a scoreless draw. I don’t agree with Allegri’s choice of
the 4-3-3, and I like to think that this match showed once again that it is not
ideal. But that just means he’ll use it again on Sunday.
Milan
started out trying to exploit the speed of Bojan and El Shaarawy, but were unable to effectively make use of the speed. We had 2 offside calls in the first 6 minutes, on
Boateng and Constant respectively. In the 13th minute were the two highlights
of the first half. First, a wicked Jovanovic shot that forced Abbiati into a
fantastic reflex save. Less than a minute later, Praet came in with a dangerous
shot, but it went wide. That is truly all that was noteworthy about the first
half. Well, that and Nocerino got himself a yellow in the 41st. It was a lot of
headless chickens fouling and dispossessing each other. And Milan only had 39% possession on the night, too. Ugly.
 |
| The next generation Allegri? How about the NOW generation? |
The
second half was more of the same football, but this time several players
stepped it up, and some moments of brilliance shone through to make it very
exciting. The first moment of brilliance, not surprisingly, came from an El
Shaarawy goal on a cross from De Sciglio. 1-0 Milan. Those two have been
connecting really well and making for some very exciting plays, despite their
Allegri & Galliani-defined handicap of being only 20 years old.
/Facepalm.
The
game was fairly rough, like in the 53rd when it looked like Milan players were
bowling for Anderlecht players in the box. And speaking of this incident,
Anderlecht seemed to want a penalty for at least one of the fouls. But the ref
refused, letting play continue. And El Shaarawy was immediately taken down at
the other end, and he gave no call for that, either. Mexes particularly tempted
fate with some late tackles and rough fouls, like when he stepped hard on the
masked Mbokani in the 60th. But fortune was with him in that the ref really
didn’t call a lot, he kept the game moving.
 |
| Yepes was his usual beastly self |
In
the 64th, Yepes attempted a great diving header. The ball went in, but it was
called off for offside. Milan had 5 offside calls on the night. Bojan was then
subbed off in the 67th for Pato. Bojan was great, but I honestly feel he plays
best as a trequartista in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Pato’s welcome to the match
would be fateful for Anderlecht. In the 70th, he was doing what he does best:
outrunning 2 defenders. One, Nuytinck, turned in and fouled him hard, taking
him down well ahead of the penalty area. The ref thought for a minute and then
confidently pulled out the red card, as he was the next to the last defender
preventing a clear goalscoring opportunity. While it could be argued that the
other defender may have caught Pato, since it was so far out, the ref must have
seen last year’s Champions League match vs. Barcelona when Pato scored in like
25 seconds or something and realized the most important fact in this scenario:
No one was going to catch Pato. Anderlecht played the remaining 20 minutes on 10 men.
What
happened next is something that people will tell their grandchildren about. On
the play resulting from that free kick earned by Pato’s foul, Mexes…. yes, our
center back… that Mexes… did his very
best Ibra impersonation and scored the most incredible overhead bicycle kick
goal from just outside of the box. Amazing.
2-0 Milan. I’ve never seen him so happy.
 |
| Now THAT is a celebration |
Allegri
followed that up with another sub, this one in the 75th, Constant off for Urby.
Constant had been one of our better players on the night, even my British
commentators recognized that. Also at this time, De Sutter came on for Praet,
which is noteworthy because De Sutter scored a very opportune tap in through
Abbiati’s legs in the 78th. Mexes had some knee trouble on the knee he’d had
surgery on, so was subbed off for Zapata in the 79th. Oh, and Abbiati was shown a
yellow card for timewasting in the 84th.
De Sciglio put yet another beautiful cross in for El Shaarawy in the 84th, however, it
was just intercepted by the keeper. But it was actually the speed of El
Shaarawy and Pato that sealed our fate in the 91st. El Shaarawy had the ball,
but was getting shut down, so he crossed it in for a speedy and incoming Pato,
who got the easy tap-in. And even though it was the Pharaoh who did most of the
work, the Duck seemed very happy and very grateful to get on the scoresheet.
 |
| Genuine appreciation for two teammates, unlike the creepy Galliani-Allegri hug |
What
an amazing match. No one could have predicted such an amazing result coming from such
terrible football. The result and certainly the qualification keeps Allegri’s
claws sunk into Milan for that much longer. And as much as we desperately need
the €12-15m earned from qualification, we really didn’t need to be playing in
Champions League longer this season with such poor results in the League. But to
qualify for the Round of 16 for the 10th consecutive season may also be just the
accomplishment this team needed to gain the confidence to be competitive in the league
and finish in the top ten. It doesn’t matter. Tonight, we celebrate an absolutely
incredible result and a stunning and memorable goal, too. After all we’ve been
through this year, we deserve to simply be happy this one day and let everything else take
care of itself. Like Cinderella meeting her fairy godmother, tonight we are simply happy and grateful. And then maybe someday
our Prince will show up again, too. (Now that is the stuff fairy tales are made of!) Come January, we are off to the ball, with or without him. Qualified.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving day here in the U.S., so while I’m
being thankful, I’d like to thank all of you. Some just read, some read and
comment, others contribute in the form of guest posts or otherwise. I am
grateful for all of you who make this a place where all of the smart, witty,
fun people hang out and talk about Milan! You guys are the best!
This post inspired by the music of
Queen
Our next match is
Milan vs. Juve
Sunday, November 25 • 20:45 CET (2:45pm ET)
Champions League – Anderlecht 1, Milan 3: Qualified.
Reviewed by Elaine
on
4:23 PM
Rating:
Reviewed by Elaine
on
4:23 PM
Rating:
