Milan defeat makes all the wrong headlines for Italian football

Paddy Agnewassesses the press reaction in Italy after AC Milan's drubbing by United.

“ALARM ITALY”, “Once Upon A Time There Was A Milan Side”, “Milan Disaster” and “Milan Humiliated” were just some of the not unpredictable headlines in yesterday’s Italian dailies in response to AC Milan’s emphatic 4-0 drubbing by Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday night.

Many Italian critics underlined the comprehensive nature of a 7-2 aggregate scoreline, offering no excuses and arguing the result offered a fair reflection of just how low Italian football has sunk since the heady days when Serie A clubs regularly made European finals.

"Perhaps in the history of Milan that 4-0 drubbing by Deportivo La Coruna (in 2004) was even more painful, given that Milan had won the first leg 4-1. But this 4-0 defeat was a manifestation of impotence and surrender", commented sports daily, Gazzetta Dello Sport, adding:

“This is the third year in a row that Manchester United have eliminated one of our clubs – two years ago it was Roma, last year it was Inter. Clearly, this is a very difficult moment (for Italian football). We have to rethink many aspects of our football in relation to European competition.”

All commentators acknowledged that following the eliminations of Juventus, Fiorentina and now AC Milan, all Italian Champions League hopes now ride on league leaders Inter Milan who take a 2-1 lead into their second round return leg against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

"We're left with just Inter. After Fiorentina (on Tuesday) now Milan have been eliminated. Perhaps they were just a bit too optimistic setting off for Manchester. They lost Nesta before they even got on to the pitch and then they lost the game hands down when they did get on . . . There was an old cowboy saying that when a man with a revolver meets a man with a rifle, the man with the revolver is a dead man . . . That's what happened to Milan last night", commented Rome daily, La Repubblica.

Turin daily La Stampaargued that this latest Italian defeat highlighted fundamental problems in the Italian game, commenting: "These are hard times for our football. Summing up all the results, there are all too clear signs of decadence and decay which go a long way back . . . We are trailing behind and not because foreign clubs can run up bigger debts than our clubs. Milan is getting older but yet every winter it continues to hire "golden oldies" such as Beckham . . . "

Whilst all commentators pay full respect to Manchester United, arguing that Alex Ferguson’s side are a “very, very good team” and that goalscorer Wayne Rooney was clearly the man of the match, many critics suggested it might be the end of the European road for some of the Milan players.

"You would have to conclude that there are a number of Milan players who are no longer (or in the case of some) never will be really Champions League class players," observed Gazzetta Dello Sport.

The extent to which, over the 180 minutes of this tie, Milan were outrun, outpaced and outbattled by Manchester United was reminiscent of other recent defeats inflicted on Serie A clubs by the Premier League’s best, suggested commentators.

"You would have to ask yourself, how come our teams arrive at these big games looking much less fit than our opponents. And it's not as if they have an easier fixture list in England than we do", commented La Repubblica.

The final word on an embarrassing defeat goes to Rome sports daily Corriere Dello Sport, which argued that Milan optimism after the 2-3 defeat in the first leg was totally unrealistic, observing: "Milan lost this tie at the San Siro not at Old Trafford last night. To have gone through, they had to win by two clear goals, something no side has ever done to United at home in the Champions League."