Berlusconi is saying Milan were lucky -- in other words, he's stating
the obvious -- and acmilan.com also reports that Maldini seems to be
recovering well, although he'll undergo further tests. He must have
the hardest skull in football, because that was a major kick in the
back of the head!

I too agree with Ancelotti's tactics, but I think it was a mistake to
ask Seedorf to carry out a task that in the past has usually fallen to
Rui Costa. I'm always wary of this kind of personnel change before a
big game. Of course, it didn't help that Seedorf had a truly awful
game. I don't know if the constant booing got to him (they hate Ajax
players in Eindhoven).

Pirlo's passing was no good either, so Shevchenko, as Ming pointed
out, came back to forage for balls. The result of that was that, on
the few occasions when Milan got a little bit of an attack going,
Milan didn't have a striker in the box. Milan improved a lot when
Tomasson came in for Seedorf. JDT did the running around and
Shevchenko stayed more in position.

Something is wrong with Nesta. He hasn't been the same since he came
back from that cut. I no longer like the Nesta-Stam combination, but
even so, Nesta is not in the form we all know and love.

Lee and Farfan are little divers. However, there's no denying Lee
owned Cafu. He was a bit less dangerous when Cafu started committing
those serial fouls. Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do. That's
what Kaladze did too. Unfortunately, both fullbacks ended up too busy
trying to defend to go up to support the attack. And since Milan rely
a lot on those runs up the flanks to try to create goal-scoring
opportunities...

Milan are lucky that Kaka' is coming back into form at this time. Also
lucky is the fact that Ambrosini was completely unmarked for his header.

And I agree that Cocu's volley on PSV's third goal was a beauty.

CA

--- In MinisterNesta@yahoogroups.com, "jujuboodoo"
<michele.chang@s...> wrote:
> Phew! Miilan survived and make it to the CL final!
>
> PSV opened the scoring in the 9th minute and added another in the
> middle of the 2nd half. Ambrosini grabbed the away goal for Milan in
> the 90th minute, but Cocu got another for PSV a minute later. Milan
> survived the last 2 minutes of added time and advanced on the away
> goal rule with the aggregate score at 3-3.
>
> Galliani said he is still alive only because he left after Ambrosini's
> goal and didn't see PSV's third goal. I guess I have a stronger heart
> and stronger nerves than Uncle Fester. I saw the entire game live,
> and live to tell about it. ;-D
>
> I think this is the first time Milan concede 3 goals in one game this
> whole season, and the score did reflect how they played.
>
> I can't fault Ancelotti's tactics. Stregthening the midfield with a
> Christmas tree formation and maintaining possession is the way to go
> in a game like this. Except the players were not able to carry out
> the play today. They looked jaded. It can't possibly be complacency.
> I suspect the punishing game schedule on 2 fronts is getting to them.
>
> Milan lost the midfield battle, and as a result put the defense under
> constant pressure. PSV played in a robust, physical style, and their
> players are fast, but there is no reason why Milan could not stand up
> to them. I felt Milan's midfield, strangely, were not playing with
> enough physical commitment, not pressing tight enough. Not being able
> to pass the ball accurately out of defense and maintain possession
> didn't help either.
>
> I don't think the problem today was playing Gattuso and Ambrosini
> together, as many Milanisti seem to feel. I think the problem was, of
> the 3 "number 10"s on the field, only Kaka' had a decent game. (Kaka'
> assisted Ambrosini's goal with an alert pin-point cross, and managed a
> few surging counter-attacking runs that created panic for the PSV
> defense.) Pirlo had an off day, and Seedorf had a really bad day, even
> by his up-and-down standard. I lost count of the number of moves that
> ended with Seedorf passing the ball to nowhere, or directly to an
> opponent. When he was not mis-passing the ball, he was holding up and
> slowing down Milan's counter attacks, allowing PSV's defense to get
> back into position. I know Gattuso isn't known for his passing
> abilities, and he fought like hell as usual, but he missed a few
> passes too many today, simple passes that even a defensive midfielder
> should not have missed. With the midfield lost, Sheva was stranded up
> front, and had to come back to midfield or move out to the wings to
> get the ball. Kaka' was seen helping out near Milan's corner flags a
> couple times. You get the picture.....
>
> We all know Cafu's defending is not as strong as his attacking. But
> today, the 2 Koreans, especially Lee, just ate him alive. By the
> second half, he just resorted to a long series of niggling fouls
> rather than any attempts at proper defending. It was almost
> embarrassing to watch. Gattuso had his work cut out helping cover the
> right flank.
>
> Nesta and Stam were under relentless pressure, and did what they could
> to keep the ball out. But there is no denying neither of them were in
> top form. On the first goal, Park created a little space for himself
> in front of Nesta and got a pass off to Hasselink, who fought off Stam
> to pass the ball back to Park to score. Nesta seemed to have lost
> balance and position after Park's first move and was unable to recover
> in time to keep up with Park when the Korean shot. For the second
> goal, everyone lost track of Cocu and he headed in the equalizer. For
> the third goal, a PSV player (I think it was Hasselink again) beat
> Nesta in the air and headed the ball to Cocu, who scored with an
> excellent volley before Stam could close him down. (If PSV's strikers
> were able to shoot half as well as Cocu did for that 3rd goal, Milan
> would have been dead and buried a long time ago in the first leg.)
>
> BTW, Maldini had to be stretchered off in the 5th minute after
> Hasselink missed the ball in a bycycle kick and got the back of
> Maldini's head instead. Incredibly, Maldini came back after some
> treatment and finished the first half before being substituted by
> Kaladze for the second half. He stayed on the bench to watch the
> second half, so hopefully he got nothing more serious than a headache
> and is OK.
>
> Anyway, before the CL final on May 25, there is the small matter of
> the serie A dogfight and the showdown with Juve this Sunday. I just
> hope Milan's players can recover as best as they can, both physically
> and mentally, in the next few days for the Juve game.
>
> Forza Milan!
> Forza Nesta!
>
> Ming
>
>
>
>
> --- In MinisterNesta@yahoogroups.com, "marypopps2000" <marypopps@h...>
> wrote:
> > I have started an internship for the summer on Monday and I'm working
> > 11 hours a day this week doing paperwork, so I wasn't watching the
> > game live, unfortunately...
> > Someone was keeping me updated with the score live, and I was quite
> > nervous about a repeat of the Deportivo situation. But, I am grateful
> > and happy Milan are through, despite what everyone seems to think was
> > an awful performance by Milan. And I hope Maldini will be fit for the
> > Juve match.
> >
> > I'll probably watch the match on Friday or Saturday only, even though
> > I have it on tape.
> >
> > Forza Milan for the final!!!
> > Mary
> >
> > --- In MinisterNesta@yahoogroups.com, "ca191598" <ca191598@y...>
> > wrote:
> > > Milan were awful, but they're through on away goals anyway. Nesta
> > > wasn't the worst player on the pitch.
> > >
> > > CA
> > >
> > >
> > > --- In MinisterNesta@yahoogroups.com, "ca191598" <ca191598@y...>
> > wrote:
> > > > There's a shot of Nesta at the airport at the beginning of this
> > video:
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > http://www.raisport.rai.it/raiSportSezioneIndex/0,5785,_78_61_10151,00
> > .html
> > > >
> > > > CA
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --- In MinisterNesta@yahoogroups.com, "ca191598" <ca191598@y...>
> > wrote:
> > > > > I forgot about Esajas. Maybe Ancelotti is saving him for the
> > final, if
> > > > > Milan get there of course.
> > > > >
> > > > > All the Italian papers are giving this lineup for the game:
> > > > >
> > > > > Dida;
> > > > > Cafu, Nesta, Stam, Maldini;
> > > > > Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini;
> > > > > Seedorf, Kaką;
> > > > > Shevchenko
> > > > >
> > > > > So Ancelotti gets to play with one up front as he likes, and any
> > > > > lineup with both Gattuso and Ambrosini is pretty defensive. On
> > the
> > > > > other hand, Seedorf will be thrilled to play as a number 10.
> > We'll see
> > > > > how this goes.
> > > > >
> > > > > Forza Milan!
> > > > >
> > > > > CA
> > > > >
> > > > > --- In MinisterNesta@yahoogroups.com, "jujuboodoo"
> > > > > <michele.chang@s...> wrote:
> > > > > > --- In MinisterNesta@yahoogroups.com, "ca191598"
> > <ca191598@y...>
> > > > wrote:
> > > > > > > Players called up, according to acmilan.com:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > SQUAD FOR PSV
> > > > > > > 5/2/2005
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > GOALKEEPERS: Dida, Abbiati, Fiori;
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > DEFENDERS: Cafu, Costacurta, Kaladze, Maldini, Nesta,
> > Pancaro,
> > > > Simic,
> > > > > > > Stam;
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > MIDFIELDERS: Ambrosini, Brocchi, Dhorasoo, Gattuso, Kaka,
> > > Pirlo, Rui
> > > > > > > Costa, Seedorf, Serginho;
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > STRIKERS: Inzaghi, Crespo, Sheva, Tomasson.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > *********
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > I think that's everybody!
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > CA
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Except Esajas......
> > > > > > ;-)
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Seriouly though, it is good to see the full team available at
> > this
> > > > > > critical part of the season.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > BTW, Liverpool upset Chelsea and advanced to the CL final.
> > So,
> > > being
> > > > > > favorites means nothing. Milan must be careful and fully
> > > concentrated
> > > > > > against PSV. Looking forward to tomorrow's game.....
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Forza Milan!
> > > > > > Forza Nesta!
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Ming