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Calcio Debate: Can The Madrid Victory Usher In A New Dawn For Old Milan?
Goal.com's Subhankar Mondal discusses whether the marvellous Champions League win in midweek could see the Rossoneri resurrect themselves this season.....
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Oct 23, 2009 12:30:17 PM
A Goal.com colleague's Facebook status message after Wednesday's Real Madrid-Milan game read: "..... is wondering where all these Milan fans suddenly came from..." In
response to that this columnist wrote, "They probably stayed 'idle' as
things were bleak for them. Now, a
victory over the biggest club in the world has awakened them."
Somewhere in another thread (presumably) a Rossoneri supporter
scripted, "Sure...they are still the best...they are still the best...they are still the best..they are still the best..."
Which is pushing it a bit surely, but who could blame that Milan fan as he was swept away by emotions as his team, where more than half the squad is around the age of 30, defeated the world's biggest club and biggest assembler of individual stars 3-2 in their own backyard.
Milan have been going through a bleak period of late. Their shock home defeat to FC Zurich in the Champions League in late September had pushed their chances of qualification for the knockout rounds into serious jeopardy and before last weekend they were closer to the relegation zone than to the top in Serie A. Their football was as lethargic as a '9 to 5' university class and with no finance to fund reinforcements they were (and are) going in circles.
But two successive victories, one in Serie A and one in Europe, have put their season back on track. Just as it happened last season with Juventus, Milan have been given a cliched golden opportunity to make a fresh start and resume their campaign. It is "eerily similar" to Juve's scenario and indeed those believing in fate, horoscopes and stars might as well predict Leonardo's side to go on and do what the Old Lady did both in Italy and in Europe.
Which would be enough at this stage but is this truly going to usher in a new dawn for an old Milan side?
The Flaws.....
For one thing, Milan's victory was as much earned as thrown away by Real Madrid. Observers have noted that Los Blancos have looked almost pathological against Italian teams and have lost their last five encounters with sides from the peninsula, but on Wednesday they took it a level higher.
Iker Casillas competed with Dida for the worst goalkeeping error of the day and then the Madrid backline forgot that part of their defensive duties is to mark opposition players and left Alexandre Pato with so much space and time for the winning goal that the Brazilian youngster could have smoked a cigar, chatted with his wife over the phone and still scored. It was that bad defending and that good an indicator that should Santa Claus fail to arrive on time this Christmas, you could always bank on the Madrid backline to deliver you the gifts.
The Old And The New Combine For Milan
No, this is not to take away from Milan's victory which on the balance of play was probably deserved if not for their game, then for their exhibition of fight, spirit and togetherness, but their win would have been unlikely and perhaps impossible without the helping hand from Madrid.
Even the victory over Roma last weekend wasn't, shall we say, very convincing. True, the Diavolo hit the post through Clarence Seedorf and had more of the possession, but Roma had four more shots on target than Milan and actually relinquished a one goal lead to concede twice. Moreover, all their three wins in the Italian top flight have been by one goal margins and the trend holds true in Europe too.
The Optimism
Yet, just as with Juventus last season, things could now change for the better for the Rossoneri. Milan might not have been very convincing against Roma or Madrid but they weren't depressing either. Even after falling 1-0 behind at home to a third minute Jeremy Menez strike, the players sustained faith and clawed back into the match. When Pato, the 20-year-old striker who is fast developing into Milan's Saviour, latched onto a neat pass from Ronaldinho and tucked in what was eventually the winning goal, you could almost touch the unalloyed joy the Rossoneri troops felt.
Can Leonardo Come Up With A Plan?
Statistically Milan are now eighth in the Serie A table with 12 points, seven behind leaders and city-rivals Inter. Hypothetically at the end of this weekend they could decrease the gap to just four should they defeat Chievo and the Nerazzurri, fresh from their horrible midweek European draw with Dynamo Kiev, lose to Catania.
Also, the victory at the Bernabeu has given Milan some breathing space in the Champions League. A win in the return leg at the San Siro could well be enough to see them progress to the next round and even a draw would be beneficiary. What happens after that, though, could be a different story.
But is this an instance when one gets carried away by recent happenings without looking at the broader scheme of things? Yes, most probably, especially as Milan now have three tough league matches against Chievo, Napoli and Parma. If they win all three, then yes, they would have recovered from their illness in the short term. If not, then the success over Real Madrid will soon be forgotten.
What are your views on this topic? Will the win over Real Madrid usher in a new dawn for old Milan? Goal.com wants to know what YOU think...
Subhankar Mondal, Goal.com
Which is pushing it a bit surely, but who could blame that Milan fan as he was swept away by emotions as his team, where more than half the squad is around the age of 30, defeated the world's biggest club and biggest assembler of individual stars 3-2 in their own backyard.
Milan have been going through a bleak period of late. Their shock home defeat to FC Zurich in the Champions League in late September had pushed their chances of qualification for the knockout rounds into serious jeopardy and before last weekend they were closer to the relegation zone than to the top in Serie A. Their football was as lethargic as a '9 to 5' university class and with no finance to fund reinforcements they were (and are) going in circles.
But two successive victories, one in Serie A and one in Europe, have put their season back on track. Just as it happened last season with Juventus, Milan have been given a cliched golden opportunity to make a fresh start and resume their campaign. It is "eerily similar" to Juve's scenario and indeed those believing in fate, horoscopes and stars might as well predict Leonardo's side to go on and do what the Old Lady did both in Italy and in Europe.
Which would be enough at this stage but is this truly going to usher in a new dawn for an old Milan side?
The Flaws.....
For one thing, Milan's victory was as much earned as thrown away by Real Madrid. Observers have noted that Los Blancos have looked almost pathological against Italian teams and have lost their last five encounters with sides from the peninsula, but on Wednesday they took it a level higher.
Iker Casillas competed with Dida for the worst goalkeeping error of the day and then the Madrid backline forgot that part of their defensive duties is to mark opposition players and left Alexandre Pato with so much space and time for the winning goal that the Brazilian youngster could have smoked a cigar, chatted with his wife over the phone and still scored. It was that bad defending and that good an indicator that should Santa Claus fail to arrive on time this Christmas, you could always bank on the Madrid backline to deliver you the gifts.
The Old And The New Combine For Milan
No, this is not to take away from Milan's victory which on the balance of play was probably deserved if not for their game, then for their exhibition of fight, spirit and togetherness, but their win would have been unlikely and perhaps impossible without the helping hand from Madrid.
Even the victory over Roma last weekend wasn't, shall we say, very convincing. True, the Diavolo hit the post through Clarence Seedorf and had more of the possession, but Roma had four more shots on target than Milan and actually relinquished a one goal lead to concede twice. Moreover, all their three wins in the Italian top flight have been by one goal margins and the trend holds true in Europe too.
The Optimism
Yet, just as with Juventus last season, things could now change for the better for the Rossoneri. Milan might not have been very convincing against Roma or Madrid but they weren't depressing either. Even after falling 1-0 behind at home to a third minute Jeremy Menez strike, the players sustained faith and clawed back into the match. When Pato, the 20-year-old striker who is fast developing into Milan's Saviour, latched onto a neat pass from Ronaldinho and tucked in what was eventually the winning goal, you could almost touch the unalloyed joy the Rossoneri troops felt.
Can Leonardo Come Up With A Plan?
Statistically Milan are now eighth in the Serie A table with 12 points, seven behind leaders and city-rivals Inter. Hypothetically at the end of this weekend they could decrease the gap to just four should they defeat Chievo and the Nerazzurri, fresh from their horrible midweek European draw with Dynamo Kiev, lose to Catania.
Also, the victory at the Bernabeu has given Milan some breathing space in the Champions League. A win in the return leg at the San Siro could well be enough to see them progress to the next round and even a draw would be beneficiary. What happens after that, though, could be a different story.
But is this an instance when one gets carried away by recent happenings without looking at the broader scheme of things? Yes, most probably, especially as Milan now have three tough league matches against Chievo, Napoli and Parma. If they win all three, then yes, they would have recovered from their illness in the short term. If not, then the success over Real Madrid will soon be forgotten.
What are your views on this topic? Will the win over Real Madrid usher in a new dawn for old Milan? Goal.com wants to know what YOU think...
Subhankar Mondal, Goal.com
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