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3 May 2007, by Sean Gillen

Milan masterclass puts paid to Ronaldo and United

AC Milan 3-0 Manchester United (Agg. 5-3)

Manchester United’s hopes of the treble were ended as AC Milan booked their place in the Champions League final after a surprisingly one-sided second leg at the San Siro.

The Italians thoroughly outclassed their opponents in a rainy first half, and scored through Kaka, Clarence Seedorf and Alberto Gilardino to set up a repeat of the 2005 final with English giants Liverpool in Athens.

United arrived in Italy protecting a one-goal lead from the first leg, but a blistering start from the home side saw Kaka’s early goal level the scores, and there was only ever one side in it after Clarence Seedorf scored a second after half an hour.

The visitor’s defence received a boost with the return of Nemanja Vidic, who had been out since March with injury. However, Rio Ferdinand was deemed fit enough only for the bench, while Patrice Evra was suspended and captain Gary Neville was still missing.

Lightning start

Perhaps sensing that United’s backline would be fragile in the early stages, Milan flew out of the traps and scored inside ten minutes. Kaka had already gone close with one attempt in the opening stages, before he latched on to a Seedorf header to fire past van Der Sar on 11 minutes.

After struggling during the opening stages, United finally began to put some decent passing movements together after twenty minutes. The visitor’s first real opportunity of the game arrived when Ryan Giggs ran at the Milan defence, before hitting a low shot for Dida to save comfortably.

United actually had more possession than the home side throughout the match, but at no points did he Premiership leaders seriously look like breaching the Milan defence. Meanwhile, the Italians’ use of the ball in advanced areas was far more inventive and dangerous, and they scored their second goal on the half hour mark after some awful United defending.

Gabriel Heinze’s poor pass put Vidic under pressure, and the Serbian badly missed his kick when trying to clear the ball. Milan capitalised well on the mistake, eventually working the ball to Seedorf on the edge of the box for the Dutchman to clinically smash home.

Both Inzaghi and Kaka had chances for Milan either side of half time, but after an hour’s play the home side began to retreat and United began to enjoy some decent pressure. However, few chances were created during the spell, with Fletcher’s poor finish from inside the box the nearest United came to pulling a goal back.

Ronaldo kept quiet

Cristiano Ronaldo had returned to the United line-up after his half hour cameo at the weekend, but the Portuguese looked short of full fitness. Playing on the left flank, Ronaldo was well marshalled by Gennaro Gattuso, and like his fellow youngster Wayne Rooney, had little influence on the game.

As United threw bodies forward in the hope of rescuing a goal, Milan scored a third on the counter attack when Alberto Gilardino was put through on goal. With all the time and space in the world, the Italy forward calmly beat van Der Sar with a side-footed finish.

Ronaldo’s fading hopes of appearing in his first Champions League final were ended as he picked up a booking for a frustrated challenge on Seedorf in the dying stages, ruling him out of his side’s first European game of next season.

Alex Ferguson (Manchester United manager):

“We are disappointed, obviously. Milan were better prepared physically for this game and we conceded two goals quite cheaply and could not cope with that.”

“I think that they came out all fired up. They were sharper and quicker to the ball and I think they’ve been good winners. We were on the back foot all the time and found it difficult.”

“In Europe you can’t give the ball away; unfortunately we did and Milan were much better than us at keeping possession. The biggest difference, however, was the level of experience and you gain that by keeping the same team for many years as Milan have done. Tonight they started so quickly, pressing every ball, and they played a great game.”

Carlo Ancelotti (AC Milan manager):

“Watching your team play as we did in the first half is the dream of every coach. In the first 45 minutes we played perfect football. We built our victory on our great start. This is a great joy, especially considering the way this adventure started.”

“Champions League football is unique for the special atmosphere at every match but I think Milan are the best side in Europe in these kind of games - we rarely play a bad game at this level. Most of all, however, I’m happy because we are in peak physical condition at the right time of the season. We did a great job during the Christmas break with this goal in mind and now we are seeing the results.”

AC Milan:
Dida, Oddo, Nesta, Kaladze, Jankulovski, Gattuso (Cafu 84), Pirlo, Seedorf, Ambrosini, Kaka (Favalli 86), Inzaghi (Gilardino 66)
Yellow Cards: Ambrosini, Gattuso

Man Utd:
Van der Sar, O’Shea (Saha 77), Brown, Vidic, Heinze, Ronaldo, Fletcher, Scholes, Carrick, Giggs, Rooney
Yellow Cards: Ronaldo

Goals:
[1-0] Kaka, 11
[2-0] Seedorf, 30
[3-0] Gilardino, 79