Milan vs. Manchester United Preview: Time to Be at Our Best

This encounter between Manchester United and Milan is quite simply the biggest match of the season for both clubs. It is a match made special and equally intriguing for a number of reasons.

For our rookie coach Leonardo, it is surely the biggest test of his short managerial career and a chance for him to prove his quality as a coach.

For Ronaldinho, it is a chance to prove to everyone, including Dunga, that he still has what it takes.

And for Beckham, it will be a highly emotional affair as he takes on the club of his boyhood dreams, the club that gave him his big break into professional football.

The last time these two teams met was in that memorable Champions League campaign of 2007. Unlucky to lose the first leg in the semi final at Old Trafford, despite a heroic two-goal display from Kaka, Milan headed into the second tie at the San Siro needing a win to progress.

In what was one of the best Milan performances of the decade, Milan raced to a two goal lead following strikes from Seedorf and Kaka before Gilardino rounded off a fine performance in the second half with Milan’s third.

Before their meeting in 2007, it was just two years before in the 2005 Champions League campaign that Milan again showed their dominance over the Red Devils of England. It was the first knockout stage and Milan relatively comfortably dispatched United with back to back one-goal wins courtesy of Hernan Crespo who scored both the goals.

Not only do Milan have a favorable record over United in recent history but in fact throughout European Cup history, United have never beaten Milan over a two-legged tie. This is a trend I, like all Milan fans, would like to see continue.

Despite our favourable record over United, it is United who head into this tie as the sports betting bookmakers’  favourites, if only slightly. And this is for a number of reasons.

One, is that in the last two years Manchester United have made the final twice, winning it once.

Second, Italian teams have suffered of late when playing against English opposition as last years rout by English opposition over Italian clubs showed.

But, this year the situation is different for both clubs. For Milan, following the loss of Kaka, under new coach Leo the team has formed a new identity with some major improvements having been achieved. With Nesta playing this year alongside Thiago Silva at center back, we are much stronger than last year in this area.

At full back, the ever-improving Antonini and Abate have made us much stronger in what formerly was our achilles heel. In midfield, Ambrosini has winded back the years with some vintage displays this season whilst Pirlo has also proven, again, his importance to the side.

Most importantly, however, has been the re-emergence of Ronaldinho. Despite some off displays in recent weeks, against Udinese on the weekend, Ronaldinho was back to his creative best.

Whether or not the Brazilian decides to turn it on will have a great effect on the outcome of this match. Given his exclusion from the Brazil squad for next month’s friendlies and given the ultimatum by Berlusconi last week, Ronaldinho surely will be motivated to show his worth on the biggest stage and if he does than Milan have every chance of victory.

Of course, our team is not without its problems still. Dida represents a very real danger given his tendency to gift goals to the opposition. As a team we are still perhaps a little too slow and against a pacy and efficient United outfit this will surely be exposed.

But for all United’s success in the last two years, they, like Milan, are also are a very different team this year. Notably, they no longer have Cristiano Ronaldo and this is a loss which will make it much harder for them to achieve the same success of the previous two seasons. United now rely solely on Rooney to provide and score the goals and this is a disadvantage that will play into our hands.

Rooney is an exceptional talent, there is no doubting, but defences in Italy are still stronger than in England and with the pairing of Nesta alongside Thiago Silva being the best on the peninsula, the threat of Rooney can be nullified.

Not only are United without Ronaldo any longer, but they will also be without Vidic and Giggs who are both out injured. This will make United much weaker at the back whilst the absence of Giggs on the pitch will also impact them greatly.

The threats posed by Nani, Valenica and Park are threats I am none too concerned about. These three players may be highly competent but the likes of Ambrosini, Abate and Antonini have more than enough ability to match.

Given results in recent years it does seem, as painful as it is, that English teams do have the upper hand over Italian teams. However, against United Milan have always had the upper hand and I believe the history between these two sides, especially the recent history, will give Milan a psychological edge.

In addition, given the loss of key players like Giggs and Vidic and the departure of Tevez and Ronaldo from Old Trafford, United are not the all-conquering side of the last two seasons. For Milan, there are no losses of key personnel for this match and for this reason, despite what the bookmakers may say, if Ronaldinho and Milan are at their best, than a Milan victory it will be, just like in 2007.

Forza Milan!