Champions League LiveBlog: Manchester United v AC Milan

Two storied clubs meet up in the Champions League semifinals. We’re liveblogging the full 90 minutes of the Manchester United and AC Milan game. You are welcome to join the fun by leaving your comments and rants before, during and after the game.

Final: Manchester United 3-2 AC Milan

Full Time That is it from Old Trafford where Manchester United were able to come from behind in the second half to take a 3-2 advantage into the second leg next week in Milan. It was Wayne Rooney with a second half brace that was the difference. For Milan, Kaka was brilliant in the first half with a pair of goals, but they were outplayed for much of the second half. Thanks for stopping by to join me. I’ll be back at it on Wednesday for the Chelsea-Liverpool match. For more on today’s action, check out Manchester United Offside, Italy Offside, AC Milan Offside, and Champions League Offside. To see the goals, go here.

90:21 GOALLLLLLLL!!! Wayne Rooney with a beautiful strike to beat Dida. Wow, what a goal and what a time to hit it.

90:00 Two minutes of added time and there are Man U supporters leaving.

88:21 Milan finally able to string together some passes but they break down in the attack again. Kaka is all alone out there and he is unable to beat three defenders again.

86:12 Rooney feeds O’Shea in the box and he is in the offside position. United really have been dominant since about the 55th minute.

85:12 Rooney is chopped down and earns another free kick from close in. They have had a hundred of these this half with Giggs unable to convert. This time it is Ronaldo and he blasts it off the wall for a corner.

84:02 Gilardino out and Gourcuff in. The young Frenchmen is a stud. Keep an eye on him in the future.

82:46 Ronaldo with a stepover followed by a shot that is pushed out by Dida. Corner kick is cleared away. Ronaldo intent on trying to outdo Kaka.

82:32 The fun thing is that we get to do this again next week. The second leg should be a cracker.

80:36 Darren Fletcher gets free and gets a shot off in the box that is saved by Dida. Fletcher has been everywhere in the second half.

80:04 Kaka with a run forward and he is stoned by Heinze.

79:03 A shot of the Glazers in the stands. They look cold and rich. Ronaldo and Nesta both fine and back on the pitch.

77:44 Ronaldo and Nesta crash over the touchline and into the advertising board. Both players are down with Nesta looking more hurt than Ronaldo. They both are up. Imagine the dollars on tha collusion.

77:08 Gillardino takes a dramatic fall against Henize and earns a free kick. It is wide of the goal by Pirlo and saved. Almost forgot that van der Sar was even playing.

75:33 Gillardino has been quiet up front for Milan. Maybe it is time to bring on Super Pippo. It has been in the Milan end for about 15 minutes straight.

74:00 Giggs with the free kick strike and Dida saves it with ease.

73:58 Rooney chopped down by Bonera and he is given a yellow card. Rooney earns another dangerous free kick for United. A hard foul, might not have been a yellow.

71:43 I wouldn’t want to be Carlo Ancelotti’s piece of gum. He is munching it like crazy on the bench. Nerve wracking game for both teams’ fans.

70:08 Giggs with a curving left footer around the wall and it is just off the mark. Nice effort by Giggs.

69:32 United seeming to have more success when Ronaldo isn’t the sole focus of their attack. Scholes taken down by Kaka on a 50-50 ball and a good free kick opportunity for Manchester United.

68:13 Giggs with a run up the side and Man U gets another corner. The tide has turned the last ten minutes. It is cleared away.

66:21 Scholes with his 7,000th foul of the Champions League. He has been off his game the past few CL games. Old Trafford humming with noise. Milan looking to regroup as United continue to put on the pressure.

63:54 Fletcher should have burried that goal. Dida had to come up with a diving save. I have never liked Dida as a keeper but he earned his money on that one.

62:59 This has been a game of surges. Manchester United is currently the team doing the surging. They are more confident in the attack following the Rooney goal. Fletcher with a blast from close range and Dida saves it. Horrible defense by Milan.

61:45 Midweek football between two giants. I think I like this just a wee bit.

60:00 Rooney did nothing for the first 60 minutes but he did what he is paid to do, score a goal. That changes the complexion of this one a bit. Yellow card to Kaka and Giggs.

58:57 GOALLLLL! Paul Scholes with a scoop pass to Wayne Rooney who pushed it past Dida. Huge goals for Manchester United.

58:33 I think you can see the devil when you look at the wrinkles on Wes Brown’s head. Weird pattern, that is.

56:23 Some beautiful action from Kaka and Seedorf and it is Kaka who once again gets the shot. What a game Kaka is having. Fun to watch.

55:01 Dida is upset because something was thrown at him from the crowd. On the other end Kaka breaks free and gets a shot wide. They have no one who can match his speed.

54:32 Shot of Gattuso limping up into the players box. He’ll live. Ronaldo with the crossover and Oddo eats him up. Ronaldo with his patented yelp at the ref.

52:05 Gattuso covered 6200 meteres. He is out and Brocchi is in. Did anyone see Gattuso get injured? Didn’t look like much to me.

51:18 The bench is thin for Manchester United but everyone loves to see the name Dong. Evra in the box to Rooney and it is cleared away. Milan sitting behind the ball. Gattuso on the ground injured and looking as scary as ever. He is taken off on the stretcher.

49:13 Not much from Giggs tonight. Darren Fletcher called for a foul on Gattuso. Looked like an equal scrum. A clorse up of Maldini’s eyes as he sits on the bench. They are translucent.

47:46 Ronaldo with a long shot and it is deflected out for a corner. ESPN announcers harping on Ronaldo’s selfishness. Carrick on the corner is wide open and misses the volley. Have to do better than that son.

46:12 Maldini off and Bonera on for Milan. That is the only change. Ronaldo with a run and he is picked clean by Pirlo.

45:01 The second half is underway. Thanks for stopping by. Your comments are appreciated. Milan with two critical road goals. United with a scattered defense. What will happen over the next 45 minutes? Let’s hope it is exciting.

Halftime After 45 minutes at Old Trafford it is AC Milan with a 2-1 advantage. Manchester United starting the scoring in the 5th minute with a corner kick goal ruled an own goal by the keeper Dida. After controlling the action, United let Milan storm back and boy how they did. A pair of splendid goals by Kaka in 22nd and 37th minutes are the difference. You can see the goals here. I’ll be back for the second half. Your thoughts thus far?

43:42 Two away goals is so big, but there is still time for United to draw even. Fletcher crosses it into the box and Rooney gives his first pissed off at the referee look of the evening. He has done little thus far.

42:12 After a blistering start by Manchester United, Milan have stormed back thanks to Kaka. Evra is shown a yellow card. He is gone for the second leg. It is not like Man U needs another defender out. Dodgy call at best.

39:34 Manchester United fans look ready to throw up. A healthy dish of Kaka will do that. So far Kaka and Ronaldo have been the dominant players with the Brazilian being the story of the game. A pair of individual goals that have exposed a beat up United defense.

38:02 Kaka again with another shot that forces the save. Kaka is on fire with no answer from the United defense. Awesome to see him raise his game for a match with such meaning.

36:51 GOALLLLLL! Kaka beats three defenders and scores again. It was all Kaka as the Manchester United defenders look like Keystone Cops.

36:21 Ronaldo is the attack for United. Hand ball on Oddo and it is a free kick for the Red Devils. Giggs swings it in but the whistle is blown. United with a clear advantage on set pieces.

34:24 Blast of a shot by Ronaldo and Dida is forced to make a dodgy save. Great swerve on the kick. Scholes on the other end with his usual hack.

33:11 It is fun watching the Milan attack build up. They make a ton of short passes and cutting runs. Puts the defense on its heels. Giggs with a cross out of bounds on the other end.

32:02 Just when I was about the heap praise on Pirlo he sprays it out of bounds. I’d still take him on my side any day. He is solid.

30:47 Carrick with a ball to Rooney who just misses it in the box. Is Rooney sporting a fauxhawk?

30:38 Ronaldo is taken down by Gattuso who got all leg. Free kick from straight on. Giggs and Ronaldo on the ball. Ronaldo blasts it right into the wall. It sucks to be in the wall, eh?

28:47 Gary Neville looking about ready for a nap in the stands. Wake up, dude. This game has been pretty exciting thus far.

27:23 Giggs takes a Fletcher pass and heads it over the bar. Is Wayne Rooney even playing in this game? He has been a non factor thus far.

26:12 Ronaldo up the middle again and he dumps it off the Evra who is offside. Neither team has an answer for Kaka and Ronaldo. It is a game of speed and they are faster than everyone else.

24:46 Now the ESPN announcers are making excuses for United. One goal can certainly turn things around, especially when it is an away goal. Still plenty of time for both teams to find the goal again.

23:04 Just a great goal by Kaka but that United defense looked like swiss cheese. He blew through three players like they were stuck in mud.

21:53 GOALLLLLLL!!!!! Kaka with a beautiful goal. He broke through the defense and beat van der Saar on the back post.

20:10 Is there a more useless stat than possession time? Milan have the advantage 60-40 but this game has been all United up to this point.

19:01 Is it ok to have a man crush on Kaka?

18:12 Milan starting to string together some passes and they get a corner out of it. Pirlo swings it in and Kaka heads it out of bounds. He was open on it but couldn’t do much.

16:58 Milan with a bit of an attack and there is a soft header on goal. Kaka has been silent to this point.

16:32 Gattuso may just be the scariest man on this planet. A hell of a player but he looks ready to kill.

14:41 Heinze and Gillardino collide and it is Heinze that gets the worse of the collusion.

13:29 Giggs with a cross and it is fired on goal by Carrick. It is all Man U right now. Dida forced to make a tough save.

12:32 Ronaldo with another speedy run up the middle and has four Milan players shitting their pants. he wins a corner. Milan on their heels thus far. Giggs takes it and it is cleared away.

11:11 Now they are calling it an own goal by Dida. I’d like to take credit for the goal.

9:54 Evra with a fast run up the side and wins the corner. This one is set back in by Rooney and Ronaldo gets a head on it right at Dida.

9:21 Great shot of Kaka with the ball being tracked by three Manchester United defenders. Ambrosini with a hard foul against Fletcher but no card.

7:43 United looking buyoed by the goal. It wasn’t pretty but it was exactly what they wanted. Will we see Milan open up the attack? They appear to be interested. Ronaldo with a quick run and a shot wide. God he is fast.

6:03 Dida getting the blame for the goal but Cristiano Ronaldo gets the credit. He did head it and Dida did kind of swat it into his own net.

4:50 GOALLLLLL! Ronaldo heads it off Dida the keeper can’t keep it out. Own goal perhaps.

4:02 Both teams feeling each other out. United playing a more conservative lineup tonight with their backline in question. Fletcher finds Rooney and he blasts it off Nesta for a corner.

2:59 Nesta and Rooney going head to head. Should be a great match within a match. Kaka fouled by John O’Shea

1:29 The crowd in fine form as the prawn sandwiches must taste especially good tonight. Darren Fletcher with a scattered pass.

:45 Milan open on the attack but they can’t connect and we get the first look at van der Saar’s beak. He looks like big bird when he wears yellow.

Kickoff: We are underway from Old Trafford with Manchester United taking on AC Milan in the Champions League semifinals. Thanks for joining me today. I will do my best to make my fingers bleed keeping up with the action. Your comments and thoughts are always appreciated. Let’s all get along and enjoy a great game.

2 minutes to go: They are coming out if the tunnel with Manchester United wearing red shirts and white shorts. Milan dressed in white tops and black shorts. The weird Red Devil mascot is enough to scare a child…or a grown child like me. Milan have had some success on the road lately. They haven’t lost away from home in 2007. They also came back and beat up Bayern Munich last round. Manchester United have lost just once in theor past 32 European competition home matches. The anthem is played, the goosebumps are out, and we are almost underway.

5 minutes to go: Two excellent managers will be matching wits today with Carlo Ancelotti looking to guide AC Milan to another Champions League final and Sir Alex Furguson working his magic for United. Maybe I listen to the wrong crowd, but I don’t think Ancelotti gets enough credit. He has had nothing but success wherever he has played and coached. Nice shot of a pair of hotties in the crowd. Let’s get this party started.

10 minutes to go: I will go to bed humming the Champions League anthem. I love the heck out of it. Interesting to see that Pippo Inzaghi is on the bench to start. All he does is score big goals. Alberto Gillardino gets the start up front for Milan with Kaka in a supporting role. There was some question if Dida would recover from injury in time to play but he has. Patrice Evra has also healed his boo-boo and will start in the back from United.

15 minutes to go: The referee for today’s clash is Kyros Vassaras. He is from Greece. I hope that he does not royally suck but he probably will. It will be interesting to see how both backlines do today. Manchester United is beat up and fielding a makeshift back four. Milan’s defenders are older than dirt, which I guess means they have been around before the planet was created. Neither side has a dominant defense and with Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka running around we may see some goals. Or not. We shall see.

Teams
Manchester United: Edwin van der Sar; Patrice Evra Darren Fletcher, Wes Brown, Gabriel Heinze, John O’Shea; Michael Carrick, Paul Scholes; Cristiano Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney .

AC Milan: Dida; Massimo Oddo, Alessandro Nesta, Paolo Maldini, Marek Jankulovski; Massimo Ambrosini, Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso; Clarence Seedorf, Kaká; Alberto Gilardino.

Pregame – My fingers are ready, I am operating on about three hours of sleep and I am ready to see some great Champions League action. It should be an excellent one today with Manchester United facing AC Milan. United come into the game riding high after thrashing Roma 7-1 in the second leg of the quarterfinals. Sir Alex’s side, however, is more depleted than me after a night out on the town. Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Mikael Silvestre, Craig Cathcart, Ji-Sung Park, Kieran Richardson and Louis Saha are all out with injuries. Meanwhile, Milan is largely healthy and largely well rested after fielding a B team in Serie A this past weekend. Milan have won their three previous two-legged encounters against Manchester United.

Interesting fact from the BBC: “Much has been made of the respective ages of the sides, with AC Milan’s average age in excess of 30. To put it in some sort of perspective, when Paolo Maldini made his European debut in 1985 Wayne Rooney was not even born and Cristiano Ronaldo’s fledgling footwork was confined to his cot in Madeira.”

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