CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Talking tactics

It was a battle of wits between Carlo Ancelotti and Rafa Benitez again in Athens. But, as Giancarlo Rinaldi explains, the shrewd Italian came out on top

Sometimes your tactical plan can work to perfection and you still end up losing a game. A couple of moments of brilliance from a superb striker spoiled the night for Rafa Benitez. His nightmares will be filled with the face of Pippo Inzaghi. Everything looked to be going according to a Spanish script. Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano and company had shackled the midfield, while Milan struggled to produce the kind of play they had shown against Manchester United. Every time Andrea Pirlo, Massimo Ambrosini or Clarence Seedorf got the ball they had somebody snapping at their heels. The Rossoneri looked hesitant and unable to produce their usual flowing play.

LIVERPOOL v ITALIAN CLUBS After losing out to Milan in this term’s Champions League Final, Liverpool’s record against Italian clubs in the finale of Europe’s premier club competition doesn’t look quite so impressive

Michel Platini celebrates with the trophy on the only other occasion Liverpool have lost a European Cup Final

May 25, 2005 – Atatüürk Olimpiyat, Istanbul Milan 3-3 aet Liverpool Maldini 1 Gerrard 54 Crespo 39, 44 Smicer 56 (65,000) Xabi Alonso 60 (Liverpool win 3-2 on pens) Milan: Serginho (m), Pirlo (m), Tomasson (s), Kaka (s), Shevchenko (m) Liverpool: Hamann (s), Cisse’ (s), Riise (m), Smicer (s) Milan: Dida; Cafu, Stam, Nesta, Maldini; Gattuso (Rui Costa 112), Pirlo, Seedorf (Serginho 85); Kaka; Crespo (Tomasson 85), Shevchenko Liverpool: Dudek; Finnan (Hamann 46), Carragher, Hyypia, Traore; Luis Garcia, Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Riise, Kewell (Smicer 23); Baros (Cisse’ 85) Ref: Mejuto Gonzalez (Spa)

May 29, 1985 – Heysel Stadium, Brussels Juventus 1-0 Liverpool Platini pen 58 (58,000) Juventus: Tacconi; Favero, Brio, Scirea, Cabrini; Bonini, Platini, Tardelli; Briaschi (Prandelli 84), Rossi (Vignola 89), Boniek Liverpool: Grobbelaar; Neal, Hansen, Lawrenson (Gillespie 4), Beglin; Nicol, Dalglish, Wark, Whelan; Walsh (Johnston 46), Rush Ref: Daina (Swi)

May 30, 1984 – Stadio Olimpico, Rome Liverpool 1-1 aet Roma Neal 15 Pruzzo 38 Ref: Fredriksson (Swe) (69,693) (Liverpool win 4-2 on pens) Roma: Di Bartolomei (s), Conti (m), Righetti (s), Graziani (m) Liverpool: Nicol (m), Neal (s), Souness (s), Rush (s), Kennedy (s) Liverpool: Grobbelaar; Neal, Lawrenson, Hansen, Kennedy; Johnston (Nicol 72), Lee, Souness, Whelan; Dalglish (Robinson 94), Rush Roma: Tancredi; Nappi, Bonetti, Righetti, Nela; Conti, Di Bartolomei, Cerezo (Strukelj 115), Falcãão; Pruzzo (Chierico 64), Graziani

Carlo Ancelotti won the tactical battle with Rafa Benitez, but it could have been different if Liverpool had taken their chances

However, that was also the kind of game that Carlo Ancelotti was expecting. He said so before the match got under way and he repeated it afterwards. Liverpool, he reasoned, were not a side which let you express yourself and you might have to rely on a few moments of magic. This, perhaps, was Carletto’s masterstroke. First, he played Inzaghi from the start – apparently against the wishes of President Silvio Berlusconi who’d championed Alberto Gilardino. Secondly, he kept him on when he must have been tempted to replace him. Ancelotti was rewarded with a pair of strikes which were pure SuperPippo. The first a deflection off his shoulder, the second a run timed to perfection to beat the offside trap. Once the English side slipped behind, a few limitations in Benitez’s approach did start to appear. A team set up to frustrate the opposition proved unable to seize the initiative. The introduction of Harry Kewell made little impact, Peter Crouch failed to make the attack more incisive and the arrival of Alvaro Arbeloa was incomprehensible. Unlike in Istanbul, there was no thunderous reaction to finding themselves trailing to Milan. There was more success among the changes made by Ancelotti – or the lack of them. He must have been tempted to substitute Inzaghi, but he kept the faith. It would have been easy to replace Gattuso as he walked a yellow-card tightrope, but he held firm. The only man he brought on who had time to make an impression, Kakha Kaladze, did a solid job indeed. It was as the game unfolded that the Liverpool Coach seemed unable to alter its course. His team saw plenty of the ball and was able to break up the play with amazing regularity, but produced few genuine chances. The team worked hard, but lacked a real cutting edge which Benitez was unable to help them find. His reputation as a great Champions League tactician remained intact but it lost just a little bit of its lustre. His opposite number might finally start to get a tad more credit for what is, after all, starting to look a pretty impressive European record having reached three Champions League Finals, winning a couple of them. Taking his team right through from the preliminary stages this time around should have earned him a bit of respect. And anyone who can keep Silvio Berlusconi happy must surely have something going for him.

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WHAT THE PAPERS SAID

The Corriere dello SportStadio titled: “Super champions! Inzaghi gives Milan their seventh Champions League. A brace by SuperPippo decides the Athens Final. The goal scored by Kuyt in the dying seconds is not enough – the 2005 defeat is avenged. Milan are now the most successful club in the world. Now it’s easier to sign Sheva and Ronaldinho.” Alessandro Vocalelli noted: “Eleven months after the World Cup triumph, Italian football claims the Champions League thanks to Milan, extraordinary for their strength, character, quality, intelligence and personality. A European Cup every four years – this statistic proves the greatness of a club. Sheva wasn’t there by chance, as past, present and future entwine in a magical fairytale.” The Gazzetta dello Sport headlined: “Hurray! Athens, 22:31: Milan conquer Europe once again and set a new record. Berlusconi hails SuperPippo and promises the supporters a great signing.” Carlo Verdelli wrote: “The Istanbul shame is finally erased and the players’ pride mended. The Milan men who were humiliated by the crazy rollercoaster which led them to lose on penalties will never ‘walk alone’ again, avenged and saved by the current team.” The Turin-based Tuttosport was full of praise for the San Siro outfit: “Great Milan. SuperPippo gives the Rossoneri their seventh European Cup.” Editor Giancarlo Padovan noted that the victory in Athens also represented Ancelotti’s revenge on Benitez, unjustly hailed after the 2005 win. “The Spaniard’s talents are finally put into perspective. It took him well over an hour to realise that Milan had difficulties dealing with high balls and how useful Crouch could be. Milan

How the Press in Italy and England reacted to Milan getting their hands on a seventh European Cup...

were not extraordinary as in the match against Manchester United, but the Coach got all his decisions right. Less than a year after the World Cup, Milan’s triumph in Europe confirms the greatness of Italian football, despite the summer scandal.” The Corriere della Sera scribed: “Milan party: they are European Champions. Brace by Inzaghi: Liverpool KO in the Athens Final.” Mario Sconcerti commented: “An ugly performance by Milan crowns them as this season’s champions, as well as the stars of the first 50 years of the competition and it is an amazing advert for football that the decisive player was an almost 34-year-old, bony and never in the match, but nonetheless almost immanent like Pippo Inzaghi.” In England, The Sun didn’t waste any time criticising the nature of the opening goal, which appeared to brush Inzaghi’s arm. “Armed Robbery,” was the headline, with the paper also lamenting Liverpool’s missed opportunities. “Rafa Benitez admitted Liverpool cut their own throats as his bid for Champions League glory fell agonisingly short. Rafa’s Reds saw their dreams of a sixth European Cup cut down by two goals from Milan hitman Filippo Inzaghi — the opener a lucky deflection.” The Daily Express followed a similar theme: “Inzaghi ruins Athens Dream. It was a cruel blow from which the Reds never recovered.” The Times focused on the Rossoneri’s revenge: “Two years after the ‘Miracle of Istanbul’, Steven Gerrard was left to reflect on a ‘heartbreaking’ Greek tragedy as Liverpool’s hopes of lifting the European Cup for a sixth time were ended by a Milan team whose thirst for revenge was sated amid tears of joy and despair at the Olympic Stadium.”

EUROPEAN CUP 1956-2007 Year Winners Score Runners-up Venue 1956 Real Madrid 4-3 Reims Paris 1957 Real Madrid 2-0 Fiorentina Madrid 1958 Real Madrid 3-2 aet Milan Brussels 1959 Real Madrid 2-0 Reims Stuttgart 1960 Real Madrid 7-3 Ein. Frankfurt Glasgow 1961 Benfica 3-2 Barcelona Berne 1962 Benfica 5-3 Real Madrid Amsterdam 1963 MILAN 2-1 Benfica Wembley 1964 INTER 3-1 Real Madrid Vienna 1965 INTER 1-0 Benfica Milan 1966 Real Madrid 2-1 Partizan Belgrade Brussels 1967 Celtic 2-1 Inter Lisbon 1968 Man Utd 4-1 aet Benfica Wembley 1969 MILAN 4-1 Ajax Madrid 1970 Feyenoord 2-1 aet Celtic Milan 1971 Ajax 2-0 Panathinaikos Wembley 1972 Ajax 2-0 Inter Rotterdam 1973 Ajax 1-0 Juventus Belgrade 1974 Bayern Munich 1-1 Atléético Madrid Brussels Replay Bayern Munich 4-0 Atléético Madrid Brussels 1975 Bayern Munich 2-0 Leeds Paris 1976 Bayern Munich 1-0 St Etienne Glasgow 1977 Liverpool 3-1 Bor. M’gladbach Rome 1978 Liverpool 1-0 Club Brugge Wembley 1979 Nott’m Forest 1-0 Malmö ö Munich 1980 Nott’m Forest 1-0 Hamburg Madrid 1981 Liverpool 1-0 Real Madrid Paris 1982 Aston Villa 1-0 Bayern Munich Rotterdam 1983 Hamburg 1-0 Juventus Athens 1984 Liverpool 1-1 Roma Rome Liverpool win 4-2 on pens 1985 JUVENTUS 1-0 Liverpool Brussels 1986 Steaua Bucharest 0-0 Barcelona Seville Steaua win 2-0 on pens 1987 Porto 2-1 Bayern Munich Vienna 1988 PSV Eindhoven 0-0 Benfica Stuttgart PSV Eindhoven win 6-5 on pens 1989 MILAN 4-0 Steaua Bucharest Barcelona 1990 MILAN 1-0 Benfica Vienna 1991 Red Star Belgrade 0-0 Marseille Bari Red Star win 5-3 on pens 1992 Barcelona 1-0 aet Sampdoria Wembley 1993 Marseille 1-0 Milan Munich 1994 MILAN 4-0 Barcelona Athens 1995 Ajax 1-0 Milan Vienna 1996 JUVENTUS 1-1 Ajax Rome Juventus win 4-2 on pens 1997 Bor. Dortmund 3-1 Juventus Munich 1998 Real Madrid 1-0 Juventus Amsterdam 1999 Man Utd 2-1 Bayern Munich Barcelona 2000 Real Madrid 3-0 Valencia Paris 2001 Bayern Munich 1-1 Valencia Milan Bayern win 5-4 on pens 2002 Real Madrid 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen Glasgow 2003 MILAN 0-0 Juventus Old Trafford Milan win 3-2 on pens 2004 Porto 3-0 Monaco Gelsenkirchen 2005 Liverpool 3-3 Milan Istanbul Liverpool win 3-2 on pens 2006 Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal Paris 2007 Milan 2-1 Liverpool Athens

WINNERS (52 tournaments to 2007) 9 Real Madrid (Spa) 7 Milan (Ita) 5 Liverpool (Eng) 4 Ajax (Hol), Bayern Munich (Ger)

2 Benfica & Porto (Por), Man Utd & Nott’m Forest (Eng), Juventus & Inter (Ita), Barcelona (Spa)

1 Celtic (Sco), Feyenoord (Hol), Aston Villa (Eng), Hamburg (Ger), Steaua Bucharest (Rom), PSV Eindhoven (Hol), Red Star (Yug), Marseille (Fra), Bor. Dortmund (Ger)

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