THE ROSSONERI now face an almost impossible task in the return leg of the Champions League clash with spurs, after losing 1-0 at home to Tottenham. Spurs were the better side in the first half, as Harry Redknapp’s tactics were flawless, however the scores remained level. Milan had the better of the second half for the most part, but Tottenham delivered a crushing blow with around 10 minutes to go, scoring a breakaway goal to turn the game on its head. With one of the last kicks of the game, Ibrahimovic scored with a sensational overhead kick, but it was ruled out for a foul in the box.
Milan’s injury laden squad was boosted by the return of Ignazio Abate to face Spurs, meaning a back 4 of Abate, Nesta, Yepes and Antonini in front of Abbiati in goal, with Thiago Silva pushed forward in to the midfield 3 – alongside Gennaro Gattuso and Mathieu Flamini. In attack, Clarence Seedorf and Robinho were joined by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Spurs made a very good start to the game, and Milan were called in to action within minutes. Spurs fans claimed a penalty as the ball was flashed quickly across the box – only for the ball to strike Nesta’s upper arm, but no penalty was given, and given the position the ball struck, it would have been a harsh penalty anyway. In truth, Spurs were the better side for the first ten minutes, and were it not for Abbiati’s excellent reading of the game to punch clear a diagonal cross, Crouch may well have scored.
AC Milan-Tottenham: The Rossoneri squad
Final training session before Spurs (Photos)
With just over quarter of an hour gone, Spurs’ system was working well, because they were exploiting Milan’s lack of width, and pressing all over – meaning Milan were struggling to create, and Spurs were still causing problems. Christian Abbiati was then forced off with concussion, which was a big blow after the Italian had made an excellent start to the game.
Approaching the half an hour mark, and finally Milan were beginning to settle – but still the Rossoneri had not managed to craft a real clear cut chance. Spurs on the other hand were losing influence, and had seemingly changed game plans since they’d only put 1 ball in to the box since Marco Amelia was brought on to replace Abbiati, which was not working very well for them as Milan were gaining more influence as the match progressed.
It was Spurs who were next to test the goalkeeper – this time Rafael Van der Vaart. Picking the ball up outside the box, the dutchman was able to take it on and shoot – but substitute goalkeeper Marco Amelia was more than up to the task, and was able to punch it wide for a corner (from which, nothing came) Spurs were allowed plenty of time on the ball by Milan, whilst the Rossoneri were given little to no time at all in possession, Tottenham were pressing well and Harry Redknapp had set his side up very well tactically, which was working brilliantly against Milan’s fairly narrow formation.
As the half drew to a close, Milan did finally create some half chances, firstly, Clarence Seedorf layed the ball off wide to Ignazio Abate, who took the ball forward before putting in an excellent cross – but Spurs managed to defend it well. Secondly, after some nice play from Clarence Seedorf, Robinho had the ball at the edge of the Spurs box, and played a brilliant ball straight across the face of goal – any touch would almost certainly have sent it in, but nothing came of it – and Spurs were noticably the better side at the end of the first half.
At half time, Massimiliano Allegri brought Alexandre Pato on for Clarence Seedorf – and Milan started the second half much better than they played for most of the first. Just moments in to the second half and the Rossoneri came close to taking the lead, a ball chipped in to the box by Gattuso was met by the head of the oncoming Mario Yepes, and forced a wondersave from Heurelho Gomes! It was also clear that the front 3 had all upped their work rate in the second half – and the difference was staggering.
With around 55 minutes on the clock, the Milan crowd was excited, but Mathieu Flamini was fortunate not to be sent off after a terrible two footed challenge on Vedran Corluka. Once again Milan were inched away from scoring – this time from a corner, as Mario yepes was again given a free run behind Peter Crouch, but the Colombian’s good header was met by an equally good save from Gomes, before William Gallas acrobatically managed to clear the ball away to safely.
Finally Milan were playing as the better side. It seemed Allegri’s decision to bring on Pato had really got the crowd going, and with the new found work rate of the attacking players, Milan were beginning to take control, and at last it looked as though it was Spurs were on the back foot trying to keep out Milan.
Milan were all over Spurs, but disaster struck around the 80th minute mark – as Milan conceded possession high up the field, Aaron Lennon had the ball with time and space to run at Milan. The Rossoneri had just two back, and as Peter Crouch hung back, Lennon took on (and beat) Mario Yepes before playing a simple square ball for the open Peter Crouch to tap in to an empty net against the run of play. A disastrous blow for Milan.
The goal had seemingly sucked the life out of Milan, and Spurs were the better side once more. In the dying seconds Robinho managed to secure a corner for Milan, and after some work outside the box, Nesta chipped it in to the box, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored with an overhead kick! However The Rossoneri hearts were shattered – as the goal was disallowed for a foul in the box before the Swede’s excellent overhead kick. And that was the end of the game.
Best Moment: The nanoseconds after Ibrahimovic’s excellent overhead kick, which was then ruled out.
Man of the Match: hard to pick one for Milan tbh, maybe Thiago Silva
By Hefin Davies, Rossoneri Blog
Guys can you please stop blaming the coach, these are the players available to him and yes he play Sedorf as expected due to his experience Merkel and Strasser are not ready for such match. If you wand to blame some one then blame Galliani for not buying proper players and in different departments whom are not cup tied. Milan’s investments were simply to secure the Scudito but not CL this year. I do give credit to Allegri putting us on top having all these challenges with injured players. Sedorf is a respectful player who has done alot he is… Read more »
White Hart Lane, thank you for you response. I new about Lennon before he did not surprise me it was expected of him. VDV actually surprise me a bit though. Anyways enough said for now, it was an enjoyable game at the end. Gongrads again and chat before the next game. Cheers
I must say that the result is really disappointing but the performance was disappointing as well :(, Yes .. The team played much better at the second half but they didn’t create any chances !! two chances from Yepes out of set piece and that’s all. I didn’t see any play making during the entire game,I can’t blame any one remembering all the injured players they have .. but still very sad to see Milan suffer like that :( Rino made it even worse !! Milan is much much bigger than the way he behaved .. If Paolo was here… Read more »
MilanoQ8- who should we blame if not the coach? It’s his job to get the players to perform and he obviously failed to do that. He keeps putting seedorfn, keeps putting flamini and gatusso in. I know Strasser and Merkel are young and not experienced and I am not really big fan of them,but I don’t think they could have done worse today. It is totally Allegri’s fault. He is losing control of this team – doesn’t know how to make the players play better. We need Carlo back!!!!
I was afraid of this once Allegri said that this game he would try to keep the score low. I knew he would play too defensively. Sigh. But again, did he make the correct choice? Remember, this first leg is at home. If we played all out, and for some reason conceded more than one goal, then it would be utterly impossible to come back. Now, they only have an away goal. The players also know their movements with first hand experience. Because Milan kept the score low, the Spurs will still be forced to play all out in the… Read more »
@white hart lane Gotta admit that spurs was better that i expected. Losing is losing no matter the process; last night spurs won & milan lost. But as a milan fan, i’d support milan til the very last end. There’s still 90 min at WHL & everything can happen in 90 minutes. I hope bale & the rest of spurs players are in their best condition so then we’d expect an entertaining match. So, see u in the 2nd leg & if spurs fails to qualify I hope you’d be gentle to admit it here like what we milan fans… Read more »
Today’s match was a complete disgrace! I still have to ask some questions about Milans management. As someone rightfully said “Milan still have not recovered since 2007” Rightfully so. We lost Kaka and Maldini since then and have not replaced them with anyone near their calibre! Gattuso was a disgrace as usual. What an embarassing act for captain! I dont blame Gattuso though, I blame the idiots who decided to make him captain!Of all the champions we have like Nesta someone decided to make Gattuso captain? That was clearly NOT a FOOTBALL DECISION. Milan is Too much of a good… Read more »
Very dissapointing loss. But we will see what happens in two weeks. Forza Milan.
@white heart lane, good respectful comments my man(or woman). pirlo was sorely missed today and if cassano was eligible it would have been a different story, but i’m not livin on if’s and but’s. very weak on the flanks and midfield had no creativity, and with spurs’ speed out wide it was very difficult. remember people, it’s one goal! if we score at WHL than it anybody’s game. just hopin bale isn’t fully fit because the last thing we need is more speed and better crossing comin at us from out wide. best of luck to spurs if they come… Read more »
Why argue w/ White Hart Lane? His team is experiencing something – for the first time in 50 years – that we do almost yearly. Hats off to them. For them, winning a match against the Rossoneri is the equivalent to winning the tournament itself. That’s why he saw fit to seek respect on this website. Just remember, we’re MILAN. We may not always get the result we want, but unlike MOST other teams in the UCL, for us there is ALWAYS a next time. Look at the talent we’ve been awarded this year. We have many bright days ahead.… Read more »
Forza Milan!
I still believe, Zlatan will be pissed now and is going to destroy Tottenham in Tottenham!
Forza Milan!
gattuso had a great match despite his antics played some nice balls to the box and was always open to receive the ball.seedorf i appreciate everything youve achieved for milan one of the most complete midfielders of his era though his time is up he should groom merkel and strasser to fit his boots.abate owned the right wing though should improve his short passes and vision.zlatan should be more of a team player he shot aimlessly though he plays better with pirlo around i think we need an attacking midfielder like gourcuff,van der vaat,schweinestiger ,sahin,some one whith a great touch… Read more »
I still believe we can qualify ! forza milan !
Hi everyone, First of all Jack, I am not Harry himself ;) the name is Mike… “G”, Respect to you because what you say is the difference between being just a supporter vs. a real FAN! Win lose or draw I’ll die supporting Spurs. All my posts on here before the game talked about wanting an entertaining game and at least for me it was very entertaining although very uncomfortable in the second half when AC were on top and looking to get a goal. I promise, should you advance at the cost to Spurs I will be gracious in… Read more »
ok i have been a rossoneri fan from 4th grade i m nw in 12th grade. lets face it we have a beautiful squad we got great talents but yet i dnt c the performance. Milan sucked last night. we got one chance to prove it n we blew it wide. I have watched milan play every game though i live in at the other corner of the world n when its milans match the time is 1.30 am at my place but yet i m up to watch them win . and after such an effort i c is… Read more »
@White Hart Lane
respects to u brother…
to all: i genuinely believe Gattuso was provoked (i think)…this is not the same dude we’ve seen in the last 3 years, he’s calmed down alot in these years, which is why i think he was provoked….
last but not least: i really think we gotta step up….playing good for 25 mins doesn’t really reflect our stature
Yo WHL you seem to be an Englishman who seems to be polite in his mannerism and know a lot about Spurs. I have been a fan of Milan for a long time and know to give respect when due. The problem with most bloggers here is that they dont know much about Milan or football for that matter,now just last week did Milan humble Parma 4:0 and the topic in this blog was about Milan are back on track they will beat Spurs 22:0 , Bring on Bale ,Ibra is the best striker in the world he will eat… Read more »
I seen a lot people in here gave up and don’t want to be a Milan fans again. Sad sad days for Milan, when they need their fans support but some fans in this blog are just…walk away. Sad sad day…
And he does it again!! Allegri again plays 3 defensive midfielders AND Seeforf. So seedorf played good for like 5 minutes against parma, u start him for such an important game??? WHY THE HELL didnt he bring on Merkel?? 3 DMF ??? RLY??? He obviously didnt learn his lesson from the game with Genoa, 3 DMF always end with a draw, or a loss. Simply unbelievable. If we want to win the game at WHL, we will have to start Merkel every single game up till then. The formation: ———————ABBIATI———————- ———-YEPES——————NESTA————- -ABATE————————————-SILVA— ———————FLAMINI———————– ——-BOATENG——————-MERKEL———— ———————ROBINHO———————– —————-PATO———-IBRA—————– Silva is still much… Read more »
…i couldnt evan write anything yestarday i was so devastated…but now its the right time to post something…. ive been supporting milan for nearly last 20 years since i was 5 or 6yo….and AKA69 it doesnt matter what other ppl say… what matters is what you believe in and what you love!!! WHL i didnt even comment before cos i was affraid that was going to happen…(nice polite and true comments from you)… i dont care how many titles we have or how a great team we are or how many injuries we have at the moment…. as much as… Read more »
@Luke- Thank you for your comments, I have explained it before I will focus on it again. Allegri dose not have optiones in subs, he played with what he has available to him. Some players did not deliver and others gave what they have already. Now is it 1. Allegri’s fault for buying cup tied players during Jan? 2. Is it Allegri’s fault for not spending more money on quality players whom are not cup tied? Or is it Berliscuni? Milan will probably amend more during the summer to build future team as they ate not thinking of CL this… Read more »
@white heart lane No disrespect, but I honestly couldn’t care less what Spurs fans, or any one else outside of AC Milan thinks about Gattuso’s behavior being a disgrace or not. I only care about my team succeeding and winning, while of course maintaining a fair game. Playing aggressively is not the same as playing dirty. As I said I do think he went too far today, but apart from the fiasco with the Spurs coach, on the field he was exactly how I want him to be. As for Flamini, he’s tackle was fine, a bit harsh but he… Read more »
Allegri you fucked up again. Lets face it now, so we wont get to excited and then get disappointed. CL is over for us. Say what ever you want, this is like always, Now we gonna say Milan CAN beat spurs at home and bla bla. We won’t. WE ARE OUT OF CL SIMPLE AS THAT. The Leauge: its only a matter of time before we lose our first spot. Im 100% we WONT win the league this year with this peice of shit donkey coach allegri. The cup. We are in the semi finals. Maybe we can in the… Read more »
:”(
2007-2008 we lost to Arsena in 2nd round with Kaka , 2009-2010 Disgraceful loss to Man utd and now its Tottenham .Downward spiral is continuing and it is so painful to see this happening . We have to remember this phrase “Every good thing has to end ” , I dont understand whats the point lossing with experienced players , even yesterday we lost with a young team that have been ok . We could have said the team is for future and they will come good .By that I meant we could have had ” Merkel-Strasser-Didac-Verdi-Pato ” instead of… Read more »
What a record we had against the big mouthful of English clubs and what have we now in three disastrous years … http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2914/champions-league/2011/02/16/2355019/tottenham-make-it-three-english-wins-in-a-row-against-ac
can someone assasinate seedorf pls ?
2nd leg line-up:
———–abbiati/amelia———-
—–nesta——silva——yepes——
abate—————————-oddo—
———–flamini–boateng————–
—————-robinho——————
———-pato———–ibra———-
any comments???
@100%MILAN , this line up is way better without Antonini and Seedorf .I dont think Antonini is good enough to counter Lenon. He has no clue and honestly he looks like a more of Parma/Genoa mode of player to me . He is not good enough to fill the void left by our Legend Paolo, no way.
@dovla he has no shame I guess. He knows he just strolls and he can’t run . Why doesn’t he just go away with some pride ? Look at Serginho and Cafu , they left the scene with their heads held high… Moron Seedorf!!
Okay, I think I’ve come out of my daze now. But can someone please tell me what exactly went wrong? Midfield? Upfront? And Mario Yepes! Good Lord! How could he get so beaten? Dah! Just can’t for the return leg…I NEED SOME CLOSURE.
And I’m still very hopeful. ‘Cause I know we can. FORZA MILAN!
I still have faith in this team
Ok guys enough of your posts , whatever you say , however you say ,Allegri is a clown and Ibra is a Champs league joker.
LET ME HAVE THE LAST LAUGH.
pls guys listen, dis teams is stil under construction and last nigth was bad but every player tried last nigth. No body is b blame in this. Somehow i supported gattuso becouse he can not just display that action with nothing behind it and we started playing better when we became aggresive last nigth becouse spurs in d first 20 minutes were aggresive . I still believe in my team and we can over turn this result @ whl.
very disappointing result is this milan, abate thank u u are grate. all hope is not lost yet we can still qualify.
disappointed but still optimist, because it’s AC Milan, dude..!! we will silence Tottenham in London!
How can u blame on the coach,when Seedorf was poor and slow.There was no play-making.Hehe.But,who do u want to pss u a perfect ball?Gatuso?Antonini?thiago silva as DMF?I agree that the purchases this winter were all for the Scudetto,but when u see a game like that put Merkel in.Or someone else in Seedorf’s place.Please let him retire this season.I can’t stand him anymore.
So what do people think the team (and formation) should be against Spurs?
Abbiati Antonini Silva Nesta Abate Flamini Boateng Rodney Straser Pato Ibra Robinho all the above mentioned guys can play 90 minutes with a fast approach, you dont have Pirlo so theres no one to dictate the midfield, Allegri should sensibly use 5 guys to defend and 5 to attack, 4-2-3-1 can do the trick provided Allegri doesnt ask Robinho and Pato to track back, if the situation arises then they will, otherwise let forwards be forwards and defenders be defenders. You cant beat Spurs on the counter coz of the agility of their defenders , Robinho & Pato can control… Read more »
I have been thinking why did we sign 4 new players in January and all of tham can not play in the Champions League???? Answer: Milan is not ready to win all the competitions like Inter did lust year and our Presidente and Galiani knows this well!!! So instead we got this 4 excellent players really cheap, a really good Bargain by Galiani(excellent work) and the reason why is to win the Seria A. During the sammer will come some DIVINE Players and some will go, we have the money to get a U.F.O to play with us and not… Read more »
@Hefin Davies
This is what formation i would play:
——————–ABIATI/AMELIA——————–
—–Oddo——-Nesta——-Yepes——-Antonini—–
—Abate—–Thiago*S—Merkel 1/Gattuso 2—Flamini
——–Alexandre Pato——-Robinho 1/Ibrahimovic 2
@Hefin Davies
OR this one:
——————–————ABIATI/AMELIA——————–————–
—–—–Oddo———–Nesta———-Yepes———-Antonini—–—
———————-Thiago*S———————–
——Abate—–—Flamini 1/Merkel 2—–Straser1/Gattuso 2
——–—Alexandre Pato——-Robinho 1/Ibrahimovic 2——-
I hope boateng gets fit enough to next match.
I just don’t get it,
Why does alegri put thiago behind the midfield ? He’s one of the best defenders and cope’s well with nesta,
Where was flamini the whole game ?
Seedorf? where do we start, this guy ony thinks for himself, shooting random from any distance on goal.. merkel would have done a better job than him :)
Ey white hart line. I respect u bc You seem like a respectful fan but try and explain this. u wath the EPL so u remember when Manchester united on decemer last yer was absolute garbage. WHY were they like that. because they had so Many goddamn injuries. remember they had only evra playing defend with carrick and Fletcher playin defense. well thys is right now. we had no backup forwards for this game. we had to start seedorf the most hated Milan player. we had silva top 3 best defender in the world playin at CM FOR GOD SAKES.… Read more »
@hefin I wouldn’t even think about the next game bc with our luck more people will get injured. W need speed for the next game mayb play abate at mid with oddo at right back but he can’t keep up with bale. As long as boateng plays we will won though I am sure if pirlo was here we would dominate 4 nil. ForA Milan
@Juann – I think he put him in midfield because of injuries, and because Yepes has done well @ CB when called upon, but yes, it was a mistake to split up the nesta / t.silva partnership.
That said it was Yepes who came closest to scoring for Milan – twice…
Okay, i defended Allegri last week on the basis i thought it was too early to judge him and results had seemingly fallen the right way for him what i cannot accept is the waste of 45 mins of home football which i believe our tactics were simply not to concede a goal. 2 attacking players on the pitch (seedorf does not count) at home is not acceptable and allegri is the reason for our poor result. that being said, we are not out just yet, granted we are now underdogs, but if we were to go all out attack… Read more »
COME ON LETS GET TO 100. THE NEXT PERSON TO COMMENT, PLEASE THINK OF SOMETHING GOOD TO POST, FOR THE SAKE OF MILAN. FORZA MILAN! x99
Lets beat them second leg with their Bale & shut their big mouths!