Manchester United 3-2 Milan

Wayne Rooney scored a stunning winning goal in second half injury time to give a truly classic European encounter a scintilating twist in the tail and set up the second leg in Italy next week.

The match more than lived up to it's billing as Kaká starred in the first half, Cristiano Ronaldo weaved his magic and Rooney snatched all the headlines with a brace in the second half to give United victory.

An open encounter was highlighted by the pace and slick movement of both teams, with particular credit going to the home team's defence that nullified the Milan attack after the break.

We were undoubtedly the better team out that night, though I don't mean to say we overpowered Milan in all respects. However Milan were able to close us down and limit our chances to good effect. It became better for us in the second half after Milan lost Maldini and Gattuso. The last minute goal was a superb strike, we've come to expect this of United this season. We were out their to score more than we conceed as our defence was makeshift, we did that and credit to the lads, a terrific comeback. Kaka had another good game for Milan. I'd still like to point out that while everyone (special mentions to Jose) seems to be pointing out how fortunate United have been with the refs each game has its share of bad desicions. Evra got a yeloow for virtually nothing, Milan put in quite a few hard tackles near the edge of their box and got away without a yellow most of the times which included Kaka who was by then already on a yellow. Milan might consider themselves better poised as it sits in this tie with the two away goals, but from the way I see it they've got to come at us and I don't see any reason why we can't score at the San Siro. Drawing away is not an impossible task, not that that's our aim.
Everything said, a classic European night . The atmosphere was great.

Good luck Pran. 1 goal is enough but to ensure the Athens ticket make it 2 then :>:

Cheers Mia

Quote :

I don’t think sitting on the edge of our box would do me any good, or my team or our fans. If we’re going to do it, we’ll do it our way. If we’re going to lose, we’ll do it our way. - Sir Alex Ferguson

I have nothing else to say

England have always played their game and Europe plays theirs. Its evident that English sides have a hard time coping with the slowed down pace and exploding reaction of European sides. The styles are so contrasting. Although, if an English side can play their game of high pace and quick passing, they are deadly. In order to do this they need to keep possession. By keeping possesion they put themselves in a position to be counterattacked, another tactic that is highly used by European sides. The only team that seems to have overcome this is Liverpool. Liverpool have adapted their game to the European stage. The other big clubs in England have not. They are still playing CL matches like they are Premier League matches.

I partly agree with you there Clarence. But then again in recent seasons English clubs have performed quite well in Europe, ofcourse Liverpool have had the major share of success but with Chelsea reaching a couple of semis, Arsenal reaching the finals and United reaching the semis in the past few seasons does show that the English game can turn out successful in Europe. Perhaps when they come against a big European club on their day it marks the end for them, or well atleast that's what happened to United. Liverpool have been basically playing for the CL only past few seasons and with Rafa's tactical efficiency they have virtually everything they need to be successful in Europe. They are a shit boring team to watch in the league most of the times , so that goes with your theory aswell.