Rahul Bali’s Champions League Comment: ‘Experienced Milan’ Flop Against The Youthful Exuberance Of Tottenham

In the build up to the Champions League round of 16 match, Zlatan Ibrahimovic pointed that there is one major advantage which Milan have over Tottenham and that could be decisive in deciding which way the tie goes. Any guesses?

Experience…yes that’s the word. The Italian giants boast of players who have won the continental competition not once, but on a couple of occasions and that gives them an upper hand over Spurs.

Little did he know that the same experience would be their Achilles heel! As Oscar Wilde famously said, “Experience is the name everyone truly gives to their mistakes.”

This was evident right from the kick-off as within seconds Tottenham could have had a penalty with Alessandro Nesta, considered to be one of the best defenders of his generation, handling the ball inside the area.

And for the entire first half, the Italian giants were second best to a team who were making their Champions League debut this season. It was surprising that the visiting team enjoyed far more possession than Milan for the opening 45 minutes.

Clarence Seedorf, with an unrivalled record of having won the Champions League with three different clubs, looked pale in comparison to Sandro and Wilson Palacios who shielded the ball well and never allowed the Dutchman to leave his mark on the game.

None of the Milan back four comprising of Mario Yepes, Nesta, Luca Antonini and Ignacio Abate looked sharp and weren’t comfortable in dealing with Peter Crouch’s aerial threat. They allowed the dangerous Rafael Van der Vaart too much space in front of the box giving him the license to have a go on at least three occasions.

Aaron Lennon made a mockery of Antonini and he would easily get past the right back to put in his cross while Steven Pienaar was a constant threat from the left where he combined well with his African counterpart Benoit Assou-Ekotto.

Gattuso: Everything Except Football

Milan skipper Gennaro Gattuso could only resort to effervescent tactics as his football skills were left at home. He could have earned the referee’s wrath on a couple of occasions and his most notable contribution of the match came after the final whistle when he headbutted the Spurs assistant coach Joe Jordan.

In his hallucination of playing for Arsenal, Mathieu Flamini, who is struggling to find match time ever since he has joined Milan in 2008, brought in the spirit of north London derby and in his excitement lunged on Corluka which resulted in the right back being seen on crutches later after being taken off.

Wilson Palacios: Denying Service To Ibra

The partnership of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho flopped as well as they were starved of service primarily as Milan showed once again why they struggle when Andrea Pirlo isn’t around as they were creatively defunct as a team.

And the goal scored by Peter Crouch was nothing but the failure of Milan to deal with the pacy Lennon as their midfielders and defenders are too heavy footed on most occasions.

All in all, it’s an opportunity lost by Milan to make their home advantage count and now have the tough task of going to White Hart Lane hoping to overcome the first leg deficit and thereby charting their way into the quarterfinals.

And going by what transpired in the first leg, Tottenham shall certainly attack Milan as manager Harry Redknapp promised and whether the ‘experience’ comes in handy next time remains to be seen.

What Do YOU Think? Did Milan's 'Experience' Flop Against Tottenham's Youthful Exuberance?

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