Manchester United vs. AC Milan - CL Semi Final 1st leg, 24/04/07 [R]

[billyireland]

http://static.flickr.com/113/298083587_1ddfcac4f7.jpg

vs.

http://www.uksoccershop.com/images/milan_home_0607.jpg

The two teams last met in 2005 at the second-round knockout stage, with Milan winning 1-0 in each leg and comprehensively outplaying us for the most part. They dominated the midfield, allowed us almost nothing defensively, and did enough up front to take the tie without much difficulty. They outplayed us because they were simply the superior team, and it was obvious to the whole viewing public that they were one of the best sides in Europe and we were looking distinctly weak for a club of our calibre. This combined with our group-stage exit in the following campaign was the reason for a lot of grief and abuse from fans of other clubs, as well as claims that we were done and one the way down. We then sold our most potent ever European striker in Ruud van Nistlerooy over the summer and it looked like one of our other key players for the continent might have been on his way out after an on-field altercation wiht Wayne rooney and the media witch hunt that ensued.

Despite claims from many corners that we would struggle for a top four finish in the league we are on top by 3(.5) points with just four games remaining, are in the FA Cup final, have eight(!!) players in the Premiership team of the year, are in the Champion's League semi finals after one of the greatest performances in the history of European club football. Oh, and that Ronaldo guy who was supposedly on his way out... he just got named both Player and Young Player of the Year by his fellow peers, and has joined the '20 goals/20 assists' club to boot.

Our run through Europe has been one of revenge. Benfica were one f the teams to progress at our expense last season, humiliatingly beating us at our own ground to send us out of the competition altogether. This season we faced them in the last round of group stage matches - again at Old Trafford - and a loss would have meant the same embarrassing fate. Down 1-0 just before half time it looked like that could well turn out to be a horrific reality, but Nemanja Vidic had other plans, and as we all know... what Vidic say, goes. A crushing header later, and we went into the half 1-1. Two more headers from Giggs and then Saha in the second half saw us win the game 3-1 and finish top our group.

Whereas Benfica had beaten us the season before by playing football though, a pack of brutes by the name of Lille had done so by utilising negative tactics, attempting to injure our players whether they did or didn't have the ball (and breaking Giggs' cheekbone which ended his great run of form at the time). We had been less than pleased about how they had conducted themselves, and they made no apologies for it pretty much taking the 'tough shit' approach. We drew Lille in the first knockout stage this season, and were in for more of the same in terms of negative anit-football, and indeed struggled to get into the first leg while our fans were attacked by police and gassed to the extent that even Edwin van der Sar in goals was feeling the effects, and almost had to come off. We held our nerve though and waited for our chance, and when it came we simply outsmarted them. A quick freekick from the same guy they had injured the year before, Ryan Giggs, in the 84th minute and we were 1-0 up and held onto that win. Lille then showed their true 'class' to the world as they walked off the pitch in one of the most petulant displays seen in the competition in years, hilariously tried to have the goal disallowed afterwards, and complained ad nauseum that we should be punished for having our fans gassed. In the next leg we had the lead and were able to cruise through without much difficulty, recording another 1-0 win thanks to on-loan Henrik Larsson. Shortly afterwards Lille (despite their continued protesting) were hit with a heavy fine for a club of their size and warned by UEFA about their future conduct.

In the quarter finals we faced Roma for the first time ever in a competitive game. There seemed little cause for revenge here, until we lost the first leg at the Stadio Olimpico 2-1 and again had our fans brutalised at the hands of the authorities while the Ultra fans were allowed act however they wanted. With no Paul Scholes for the return fixture and only Alan Smith (who had been out for basically 15+ months) to start beside Rooney, things were looking a bit murky. Then came perhaps the greatest ever performance in the club's entire history, winning 7-1 and dominating them all over the park. Questions asked of Fletcher and Carrick had been answered as both (alongside Ronaldo) were absolutely out of this world and dominated the centre of the park like never would have been expected. Enough has been said of this match over the past few weeks, but as has been said by Sir Bobby Charlton it was perhaps our best ever performance in the clubs history, and as Johan Cruyff himself admitted, it was the closest thing to total football since the Dutch sides of the 1970s.

Ahead of us is the possibility of meeting either Chelsea or Liverpool in the final, and as great as the prospect beating the former would be, doing the latter would certainly be the 'ultimate' revenge.

First though is a big task, and a big chance to avenge the defeat of 2005. Gone are Keane, Fortune, Djemba-Djemba, Kleberson, Howard, van Nistlerooy and so on. In have come Evra, Vidic, Park, Van der Sar, Carrick and the return of Solskjaer. We are carrying a lot of injuries with really only 1-3 players (depending...) outside of the first XI and our entire backline out (unless Evra can get back in time). We are also in a very tight run-in with Chelsea to win the league, with the next three games there undoubtedly being crucial. Milan are not by any means going to be an easy task, but this year, if paybacks is a bitch then we are the Joan Collins of European football.

vD3SxT9ne0w

[Drae]

They have been relatively hot and cold in Serie A this year. Hopefully they will run cold against us, fielding our depleted backline.

[odessit19]

http://static.flickr.com/113/298083587_1ddfcac4f7.jpg

vs.

http://www.uksoccershop.com/images/milan_home_0607.jpg

The two teams last met in 2005 at the second-round knockout stage, with Milan winning 1-0 in each leg and comprehensively outplaying us for the most part. They dominated the midfield, allowed us almost nothing defensively, and did enough up front to take the tie without much difficulty. They outplayed us because they were simply the superior team, and it was obvious to the whole viewing public that they were one of the best sides in Europe and we were looking distinctly weak for a club of our calibre. This combined with our group-stage exit in the following campaign was the reason for a lot of grief and abuse from fans of other clubs, as well as claims that we were done and one the way down. We then sold our most potent ever European striker in Ruud van Nistlerooy over the summer and it looked like one of our other key players for the continent might have been on his way out after an on-field altercation wiht Wayne rooney and the media witch hunt that ensued.

Despite claims from many corners that we would struggle for a top four finish in the league we are on top by 3(.5) points with just four games remaining, are in the FA Cup final, have eight(!!) players in the Premiership team of the year, are in the Champion's League semi finals after one of the greatest performances in the history of European club football. Oh, and that Ronaldo guy who was supposedly on his way out... he just got named both Player and Young Player of the Year by his fellow peers, and has joined the '20 goals/20 assists' club to boot.

Our run through Europe has been one of revenge. Benfica were one f the teams to progress at our expense last season, humiliatingly beating us at our own ground to send us out of the competition altogether. This season we faced them in the last round of group stage matches - again at Old Trafford - and a loss would have meant the same embarrassing fate. Down 1-0 just before half time it looked like that could well turn out to be a horrific reality, but Nemanja Vidic had other plans, and as we all know... what Vidic say, goes. A crushing header later, and we went into the half 1-1. Two more headers from Giggs and then Saha in the second half saw us win the game 3-1 and finish top our group.

Whereas Benfica had beaten us the season before by playing football though, a pack of brutes by the name of Lille had done so by utilising negative tactics, attempting to injure our players whether they did or didn't have the ball (and breaking Giggs' cheekbone which ended his great run of form at the time). We had been less than pleased about how they had conducted themselves, and they made no apologies for it pretty much taking the 'tough shit' approach. We drew Lille in the first knockout stage this season, and were in for more of the same in terms of negative anit-football, and indeed struggled to get into the first leg while our fans were attacked by police and gassed to the extent that even Edwin van der Sar in goals was feeling the effects, and almost had to come off. We held our nerve though and waited for our chance, and when it came we simply outsmarted them. A quick freekick from the same guy they had injured the year before, Ryan Giggs, in the 84th minute and we were 1-0 up and held onto that win. Lille then showed their true 'class' to the world as they walked off the pitch in one of the most petulant displays seen in the competition in years, hilariously tried to have the goal disallowed afterwards, and complained ad nauseum that we should be punished for having our fans gassed. In the next leg we had the lead and were able to cruise through without much difficulty, recording another 1-0 win thanks to on-loan Henrik Larsson. Shortly afterwards Lille (despite their continued protesting) were hit with a heavy fine for a club of their size and warned by UEFA about their future conduct.

In the quarter finals we faced Roma for the first time ever in a competitive game. There seemed little cause for revenge here, until we lost the first leg at the Stadio Olimpico 2-1 and again had our fans brutalised at the hands of the authorities while the Ultra fans were allowed act however they wanted. With no Paul Scholes for the return fixture and only Alan Smith (who had been out for basically 15+ months) to start beside Rooney, things were looking a bit murky. Then came perhaps the greatest ever performance in the club's entire history, winning 7-1 and dominating them all over the park. Questions asked of Fletcher and Carrick had been answered as both (alongside Ronaldo) were absolutely out of this world and dominated the centre of the park like never would have been expected. Enough has been said of this match over the past few weeks, but as has been said by Sir Bobby Charlton it was perhaps our best ever performance in the clubs history, and as Johan Cruyff himself admitted, it was the closest thing to total football since the Dutch sides of the 1970s.

Ahead of us is the possibility of meeting either Chelsea or Liverpool in the final, and as great as the prospect beating the former would be, doing the latter would certainly be the 'ultimate' revenge.

First though is a big task, and a big chance to avenge the defeat of 2005. Gone are Keane, Fortune, Djemba-Djemba, Kleberson, Howard, van Nistlerooy and so on. In have come Evra, Vidic, Park, Van der Sar, Carrick and the return of Solskjaer. We are carrying a lot of injuries with really only 1-3 players (depending...) outside of the first XI and our entire backline out (unless Evra can get back in time). We are also in a very tight run-in with Chelsea to win the league, with the next three games there undoubtedly being crucial. Milan are not by any means going to be an easy task, but this year, if paybacks is a bitch then we are the Joan Collins of European football.

vD3SxT9ne0w

Great intro. Good luck to your team and I hope that both legs will be one of the most exciting matches this year.

[Stud83]

:mad: WTF, billy. We need every piece of luck we can get and you are ruining it.
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=11324097&postcount=23

[prymetyme]

First Off, Great right up Billy. Repped.

If someone were to ask me 2 months ago if I would rather play Milan or Roma, I would chose Milan. Hands down. But maybe it is the relative pessimism going around or maybe it is the fact that we are virtually missing our entire back four:cool: but something about this match up scares me.
I'm not scared about a player in particular, Gattuso is great and Kaka is an amazing play maker, and Pirlo is class but I can't see one of their players just going wild on us.
Oh yeah, and if you have been reading the CL-Semi Final thread you might have noticed that I find Inzaghi to be complete and utter shit.

I think that we are going to have to field an attacking line up (obviously). We need to attack attack attack, but not commit our entire midfield to that attack, Rooney and Smith are going to have to work wonders together. Milan constantly on the counter, with our defense as it stands would be devastating.

I want to see some sort of formation in the front like this:
----------------Carrick--------------
----Ronaldo----Scholes-------Giggs--
-----------Smith--------Wazza------

I expect Fergie to have Ronaldo switching flanks often, he needs to cause the Milan midfield/defense as much trouble as he can. Giggs will no doubt be doing the same thing on the opposite side. I want us to change fields often, we need to keep Milan on their toes and have Scholes make some quality passes along with Carrick to distribute the ball to set up our attacks. I want to pick apart the Milan back four, with great through balls into the box setting up Rooney and Smith with as many shooting chances as possible, ESPECIALLY if they don't have Dida for this match.

In the back I expect something like this: (I have little doubt Evra won't be playing, but I am skeptical about G. Nev.)

----------------VDS--------------
---Evra---Wes------O'Shea---Heinze

Unfortunately O'Shea is just going to have to be solid, play conservative and just try not to ******** up. It is really all we can ask of him. It is either that or we see Heinze at CB...

Thankfully this game is at OT. Even with our injury crisis I expect to see the lads pull a 3-1 victory. Hopefully we don't see any fans walking out on us again:mad: We're going to need the 12th man. 3-1 should give us enough wiggle room to handle Milan at the San Siro.

After all, we are the Pride of all Europe...

[Cloudkicker09]

BillyIreland, that was a great introduction to a very important thread. Your absolutly right, this season has been about revenge and taking back what is rightfully ours. First Benfica, then Lillie, now Milan, Manchester United will triumph over all those that questioned all those that have challenged the honor and history of this great club. Let it be said from the highest mountain at the highest volume from Manchester to Milan:

WE ARE MANCHESTER UNITED!

And there is nothing that Milan could do to change that, regardless of the result

WE ARE MANCHESTER UNITED!

MAN UNITED FOREVER!!!!!

[Seeing Red]

First Off, Great right up Billy. Repped.

If someone were to ask me 2 months ago if I would rather play Milan or Roma, I would chose Milan. Hands down. But maybe it is the relative pessimism going around or maybe it is the fact that we are virtually missing our entire back four:cool: but something about this match up scares me.
I'm not scared about a player in particular, Gattuso is great and Kaka is an amazing play maker, and Pirlo is class but I can't see one of their players just going wild on us.
Oh yeah, and if you have been reading the CL-Semi Final thread you might have noticed that I find Inzaghi to be complete and utter shit.

I think that we are going to have to field an attacking line up (obviously). We need to attack attack attack, but not commit our entire midfield to that attack, Rooney and Smith are going to have to work wonders together. Milan constantly on the counter, with our defense as it stands would be devastating.

I want to see some sort of formation in the front like this:
----------------Carrick--------------
----Ronaldo----Scholes-------Giggs--
-----------Smith--------Wazza------

I expect Fergie to have Ronaldo switching flanks often, he needs to cause the Milan midfield/defense as much trouble as he can. Giggs will no doubt be doing the same thing on the opposite side. I want us to change fields often, we need to keep Milan on their toes and have Scholes make some quality passes along with Carrick to distribute the ball to set up our attacks. I want to pick apart the Milan back four, with great through balls into the box setting up Rooney and Smith with as many shooting chances as possible, ESPECIALLY if they don't have Dida for this match.

In the back I expect something like this: (I have little doubt Evra won't be playing, but I am skeptical about G. Nev.)

----------------VDS--------------
---Evra---Wes------O'Shea---Heinze

Unfortunately O'Shea is just going to have to be solid, play conservative and just try not to ******** up. It is really all we can ask of him. It is either that or we see Heinze at CB...

Thankfully this game is at OT. Even with our injury crisis I expect to see the lads pull a 3-1 victory. Hopefully we don't see any fans walking out on us again:mad: We're going to need the 12th man. 3-1 should give us enough wiggle room to handle Milan at the San Siro.

After all, we are the Pride of all Europe...

If we win 3-1 I will piss myself...

Out of jubilation mind you.

[prymetyme]

If we win 3-1 I will piss myself...

Out of jubilation mind you.

haha I would be right there behind you, I'm trying to think as many positive thoughts as possible right now.

[Invincible]

I'm afraid....very afraid.

[prymetyme]

positive thoughts!

[littleman]

Having been around long enough and knowing you guys, I've brought a ton of diapers specially for you lot, just for this match. :cool:

[Radbennie]

haha I would be right there behind you, I'm trying to think as many positive thoughts as possible right now.

I think im on the same boat as you guys! This will be one of those tough tasks to to get through, on that note Ronaldo for Milan has been playing great for Milan and his not even at his best! :eek:

By the way great intro billyireland and I think you starting this match thread has the good vibes you want :D.

So does anyone know who will be back from the injury list?

[sdotsom]

Afraid a bit given our current injury situation, but I'll take a 2-1 victory for us. I think as our defense currently stands, they will be able to get 1 away goal.

[israbeckham]

Great intro for this thread. props to Billy.
Iv been ditching school to watch the champs league and other other games every time so i was going to record this one and watch it later. but after watching that into/video theres no way im missing this.

obiously our back line is a problem but I thing that Sir Alex will go with Oshea at RB and Gabby in the middle. I personally think its better but wel c waht he does.

our defence is not out strong point at the moment and milan will try to expose that so we need to attack as much as possible and play like wev been doing all season.
I think I would like to play a fleacher/carrick midfield for 3 reasons:
-fleacher deserves to play after what he did in roma
-we need a HOLDING midfielder this game b/c of the injury crisis to the defence
-it would be nice to have a world class player sucha s scholes comming off the bench if/when we need him.


----------------------------VDS----------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------Brown--------Gabby---------------------------------
Oshea--------------------------------------------------------------Evra
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------Fleacher-----------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------Carrick----------------------------------Giggs
Ronaldo----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------Rooney-----------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------Smith----------------------

[israbeckham]

but then again I just cant c SAF dropping scholes for a game like this...:(

[cachundo]

I'm quite anxious about this match. There's no team I fear more than Milan in the Champions League. Their defenders may be way past their prime, but Milan are playing in their 5th or 6th consecutive CL semis. That experience is a big plus for them.

Kaka is a special player. Milan don't have that much pace on the flanks, but Kaka can run like hell, finding seams in the middle of the park. I think containing Kaka by winning the midfield battle will be crucial. Not giving Milan time & space in midfield will neutralize Kaka. IN addition, if you give up silly fouls against Milan, Pirlo will kill you with his trademark free kicks.

[Numquam Moribimur]

I don't know what you lot are so worried about ...My red tinted specs say 2-0 with goals from Rooney and Ronaldo ! Have no fear boys .....:cool:

[433tom]

I would like to see Ole start this one. He looked good coming off the bench against Boro. Sparked some life back into the team. He is a big game player. We need a few goals at OT and I think he will get us at least one.

[sitati_kituyi]

East Stand, Tier 1 :cool:

After my last Old Trafford experience, this has a lot to live up to.

[Dark Savante]

What to think about this one?

Our defence is a mess and having Rio fout or a game of this magnitude changes the complexion of the entire tie. Milan should be favourites to advance given the circumstances.

This game, I expect, will be a very, very attacking one from both sides. Ancelotti knows full well this is the perfect chance to attack us, get a few away goals and have a relatively easy game to conclude at the San Siro.

We, on the other hand, know full well that our defence is weak but that our attack is strong. We also know that when we click, we can force teams to camp in their own half simply trying to contain us for periods of a game at a time.

Both teams lack strike quality, but us moreso than them, I've never liked Inzaghi, but I have always rated him. Say what you want about him, he is a goalscorer and taker of chances. The clumsy pairing of Heinze-Brown would invite him to a few chances on goal. The slowness of O'Shea would invite him to a few chances running across O'Shea and beating him on the short sprint. So either way, there's a problem for us there.

Saha seems to have no part to play, by his own violition... or not, as the case may be, who knows. But what this means is a pick between Smith and Ole.

One others you tireless work, aggression, back to goal play, strength and sheer force of will, whilst lacking the guile or skill to take on and beat Nesta or Maldini outright. But where he could definitely nail either of them is in the air, his combination of no holds barred, his bottle and his actual acumen in aerial tussles, certainly provides a window of opportunity, albeit not a great one as we are a poor crossing side.

Ole, on the other hand, is likely to be absolutely snuffed out for lengthy periods of the game against such CB's but as we know, give Ole a sniff of goal and his finishing sees him right time and time again. What concerns me there though is that there is an Ole in almost every team in Italy and it's nothing the CB's would be flustered by.

So on this score, I'd definitely take Smith over Ole to start.

The rest of the attack sorts itself out, except for Scholes vs. Giggs. My thoughts on that were written a few days ago:

With regard to who to drop, I personally would put Giggs on as an impact player, but Fergie may well play the same team as against Roma. It's a tought decision, but it is one for the greater good of the team. I said when Scholes was out for the 2nd leg it may be a blessing in disguise. It wasn't a surprise to see our midfield perform well without him there. In those kind of games you need balance and defined roles for each man in the middle, we had that and it gave our attackers the platform to perform on.

It's simple though.

Play Scholes = looking for a more technical and possession-based game with a more considered build-up and trying to match Milan at their own game somewhat.

Play Giggs = Erratic basic passing, but g'teed moments of electric runs or passing that are a direct threat to their goal.


Neither is a bad option, but I'd just prefer Giggs flying out the traps around 60 minutes against a tiring team

There is of course a whole host of outside factors that could negate this.

1. Fletcher may have to play RB, at which time we’d see Giggs, Scholes, Carrick in midfield.
2. We may play a 4-4-2, which would completely negate the ‘drop who’ conundrum.
3. Fergie sticking with the lions who decapitated Roma, thus dropping Scholes. This is unlikely, one would think Scholes has to play a CL SF.

I personally feel it is absolutely imperative for Fletcher to play in midfield. Even if we weaken the right back spot in the process. The key to stopping Milan is to destroy the passing lanes to their outlet player (Kaka’) this means occupying Gattuso, making Seedorf work backwards and suffocating Pirlo. Pirlo in particular runs this team metronomically and it is his vision and his ability to play, once given space, that sets the whole midfield off.

The talk is always of how dangerous Kaka’ is. Kaka’ can only be dangerous if he is getting the right balls to make his moves, if he is forced to track back to receive a more basic ball you have a lot more time and option to stop him cynically or otherwise. The point being, you want the key attacking threat to have as many obstacles in front of him as possible before he can even dream of making that killer run or shot and if you reduce passing lanes the key man has to use up more energy to get himself into opportune places to do the most damage.

There’s two ways to play this.. swarm Pirlo with both Smith and Giggs/Scholes or put Fletcher on him. The key issue is retaining shape as a unit whichever option is chose because obviously that midfield as a 4 has the experience, skill and the confidence to play some stunning one-touch to evade base strategy – this won’t be the same as getting at Roma’s somewhat naïve midfield and we have experience of humiliation at the hands of Milan and contrary to the statements that Milan are soft because they struggled thus far in the competition, this is a big game side, with the most experienced midfield unit in this competition and respect needs to be given to that at all times.

The talk of their old back-line will be redundant if we don’t win the midfield battle outright. Without Rio back there, we have the exact same concerns as well. If they get at our back line repeatedly we will lose this game so that midfield battle is the crux to this leg.

The pace of this game is also a decisive factor in which way the game goes. If we allow Milan to set the tempo, we lose. If we get them to play at our speed, we win. This is where the fact they are old at the back comes into play. If that back-line is forced along outside their comfort zone it will tire at around 65 minutes. The ‘if’ however all goes back to winning the midfield battle.

Lastly. Width. We cannot make the mistake Bayern made in the last round. They played directly into Milan’s hand playing them through the middle. The only team in this competition that could hope to do that is Chelsea. Our strengths are many in number, but no doubt the ability to stretch teams rapidly down the flanks before cutting infield is a major weapon and using the flanks this game has a two-fold advantage.

1. Milan are not good with regards to width on any side of the pitch. If they go with Oddo and Kaladze in the FB positions then Gattuso and Seedorf will have their work cut out on the double team, thus freeing up the midfield for Giggs to weave some magic, hopefully.
2. If they go with Jankulovski [sp] and Oddo, then the chances for Ronaldo on their left flank will increases a great deal.

Whichever route they take our reply should be to try and get that ball out wide as soon as possible, away from their central midfield strength and wherever possible cut on the inside flank of Maldini’s, which will be the left side. He is 38. As great as he is, his knees have gone, his stamina is low and he will hate breaking rank to deal with a pacey attacker who can go both ways inside the box. Without doubt that’s our best inroad on their goal and this game is set up for Ronaldo in that sense as it’s his nominal WF position on the right anyway.

I'd do this

-------------VDS
-------O’Shea------Wes
Evra*-----------------------Heinze
--------Fletcher--Carrick
------------Scholes
Ronaldo------------------Rooney
-------------Smith

With Giggs on in the 2nd half.

If Evra is not fit then I would like to put K.Lee there, but that would never happen given the level of importance and an ‘able right-back’ being available in Fletcher:

I'd do this

-------------VDS
-------O’Shea------Wes
Fletcher-----------------------Heinze
--------Carrick----Scholes**
------------Giggs
Ronaldo------------------Rooney
-------------Smith

** guaranteed yellow card at least, not unfeasible to think he’ll get a red playing there, even.

If we were to go for an alternate formation (and I really think we will if no else is fit) we’ll see this, I reckon.

-------------VDS
-------O’Shea------Wes
Fletcher-----------------------Heinze
---------Carrick---Scholes**
Ronaldo----------------------Giggs
------------Rooney
------------------Smith


Playing that way (4vs.4) in midfield would take a lot of bottle, especially after the humiliating lesson they provided with their possession footy last time.

If we play like this on Tuesday, expect to see a mad game of who can score the most before the 90 is up.

With all this said and done, with our decimated defence I’d just be happy with a result. A 0-0 would be perfect, but that has to be most unlikely scoreline of the night (I’d take 7-6 before 0-0) whatever happens we must make sure we are in touch for the second leg. Their pursuit of the away goal will lead to dividends, imo. The only way we stop them scoring is via phenomenal attacking. This is a chance for some of the stand-ins to make themselves heroes.

It’s a great game on a great stage against an aristocratic opponent. As Fergie said, ‘let’s go out there and enjoy it whilst expressing ourselves.’

Our bench for a CL semi final against Milan could be filled up with 5kids plus Ole and Koozy!! :eek: