A last-minute draw for Milan in the round of 16 of the Europa League: after 14 years the Rossoneri, without Ibra, return to the “happy” Manchester.
by Simone Filippetti
A last-minute draw for Milan in the round of 16 of the Europa League: after 14 years the Rossoneri, without Ibra, return to the “happy” Manchester.
5 ‘of reading
Every morning the local Key 103 FM radio calls Manchester “the best city in the world” when it announces the weather forecast. For 11 March, he plans the challenge Amarcord of Europa League between Manchester United e Milan, the forecasts were very bad: a weather alert was also issued. Swarms of freezing rain and a perceived temperature of one degree welcomed the Rossoneri’s return to Old Trafford, as the magazine distributed at the entrance recalls. Typical Midlands weather would have greeted the return of stardom Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who just last week was paparazzi in costume, his back tattooed aboard his yacht, moored at Sanremo, for the Festival. But the Swedish champion is not even among the squads. And precisely the absences, from Ibra to his counterpart Paul pogba, are the great protagonist of a match with a noble but fallen coat of arms: two clubs far from their glories. Those of Arrigo Sacchi e Fabio Capello for the Italians, who brought seven Champions Cups to the showcase; those of the baronet Sir Alex Ferguson for the British, and their 20 years of domination over the Premier League.
Amarcord
The hashtag of the round of 16 of what was once the Uefa Cup, relaunched on social media by Milan, is #ClashofDevils, clash of devils: Manchester’s Red Devils against San Siro’s Devils. The risk, however, that it is only a clash of memories is very high. L’Old Trafford is an immense and tasty madeleine: the Teathre of Dreams, the Theater of Dreams evokes sweet memories for Italians. Here, almost twenty years ago, in 2003, Milan raised their sixth European Cup, winning on penalties against Juventus: Andrij Shevchenko that beats Gianluigi Buffon has entered the history of sport. Those were the years of Italian football on the roof of Europe, where two Serie A clubs competed for the highest European trophy inside Old Trafford, the most beautiful of the stages. These were the years of the mythological Milan of the era Silvio Berlusconi. Today the Italy of the ball is the faithful mirror of the decline of the country: for over ten years there have been no international trophies. And the intersections of the fate of the two clubs between today and yesterday made these round of 16 a perfect match for nostalgia. In the end, Milan deserved more, with two goals disallowed and a draw caught at the last minute, after being down for a spectacular header by the young Amada Diallo, the former Atalanta sold for 40 million euros.
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The 2007 semifinal
Gray and unhealthy industrial city, which exploded economically at the end of the 18th century thanks to the first cotton mill opened by Richard Arkwright, Manchester is a magical place for the Milan fans; back in the 19th century, it was so much hell that the American writer Mark Twain, with his sharp irony, he wished to pass old age in the English city because in this way “the passage to death would be imperceptible”. In the history of Milan, it is instead paradise: the last time the Rossoneri crossed the threshold of the world temple of football was in 2007, the first leg of the Champions League. There were 75,000 spectators in the stands of Old Trafford: a human mountain that whistled every touch of the Rossoneri and exploded in deafening roars with every play of the home club. On the evening of 11 March 2021, the eleventh match between United and Milan, there is no one inside the gigantic arena: in the era of Covid, we play in ghostly empty stadiums that make even the Champions League final look like a soccer match . AC Milan in 2007, led by Carlo Ancelotti, was defeated by the away game: but he played a memorable game, with Kaka who scored two spectacular goals. At San Siro, the devils made the feat and the victory against United opened the way for Milan to the final in Athens, against another English team, Liverpool. It was the last cup won by the Italian club. From then on, a long crossing in the desert, with the only exception of the Scudetto in 2011.
The crossroads of destiny
The Milan of the last time in Manchester was a Dream Team: in addition to a talented Kakà in attack, in defense they still had the historic column Paolo Maldini. In midfield, Rino Gattuso dictated the timing, today the Napoli coach without too much luck; and Andrea Pirlo, now a debutant and shaky Juventus coach recovering from yet another disastrous elimination from the Champions League. Against, the Rossoneri had Rooney, but above all there was a young Portuguese called Cristiano Ronaldo, already very strong but not yet the phenomenon of Real Madrid, which ten years would have landed, in what seems an opaque career finale, precisely to that Juve that here lost one of its countless finals and that today does not even reach the final anymore . The former coach “Carletto” is a few kilometers away: he coaches Everton, the other club in Liverpool, which is just 30 minutes away. There were those who thought he would go to see his former team and study his rivals in the Premier League. But he didn’t.
Two business models
“Ronaldo against Kakà: the top of world football” commented Sandro Piccinini during the commentary of the 2007 semifinal, from the microphones of Sky. Ronaldo and Kakà ended up elsewhere and Manchester and Milan compete in the Europa League, the poor sister of the Champions League. But after years of decline, another coincidence binds the two clubs: both are second in their respective leagues. Milan were also Winter Champions and have now been overtaken by Inter, thanks to that Romelo Lukaku coming from United, but despite the setback, for the first vote since time immemorial, the Scudetto is played: it is his best year. The same happens for Paul Pogba’s club, which will not take the field. United chases the unattainable City at 14 points: there is no championship fight but between the championship and the cups it is the best positioning in recent times. Milan and Manchester also share the formations: both with Team B, without their “strong points”. The English attack is entrusted to Greenwood supported by Bruno Fernandes and Martial. Milan are also in an emergency set-up, without Ibra or Theo Hernandez and not even the new signing Mario Mandzukic. Even from the formations, reworked and without the champions, Manchester United against Milan is more of an Amarcord than a clash between world football Titans: today the goddess Eupalla attends the other part of Manchester, the Etihad Stadium, and Munich. Behind the many analogies of history, the two “Devils” of football are today at the antipodes in the property: on the one hand, tradition; on the other, private equity funds, half speculators, half financial investors. United is in the hands of the American dynasty Glazer, one of the few families, together with the Agnelli, still patron of football clubs in Europe, a sort of “fossil” in the era of the emirs and turbofinance. After the long and winning era of Fininvest, Milan has become an “asset” in the portfolio of Elliot, fund of the American financier Paul Singer, also a shareholder of Tim, the sponsor of Serie A. The world of finance has set off to conquer football. At the triple whistle of the referee, the future of the ball, the industrial and the sporting one, is more in Milan than in Manchester.