Sitting in a plush white sofa beside the fireplace and surrounded by reporters and TV cameras for his Friday news conference at Milanello, AC Milan coach Alberto Zaccheroni looked for all the world like a long-suffering school teacher struggling to deal with recalcitrant pupils.
The only question concerned which set of professionals were testing his patience harder: his players, who have won only two of their last 13 games, or the reporters whose appraisal of that recent run has been less than enthusiastic.
Zaccheroni, a man with a mission, can chase off some of the dark clouds gathering over his head (a sacking has been speculated) when his side take on Paris Saint Germain in a Champions League Group C clash at the Parc des Princes tonight.
Zaccheroni's mission is no secret. The final of the Champions League this season will be played on May 23rd at the San Siro stadium in Milan. Zaccheroni and his men are kindly requested to be there.
By the time this year's final will be played, Italy will have gone to the polls for a general election, the most likely outcome of which will see the AC Milan owner, media tycoon and centre-right opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi, voted back into the prime minister's office.
As Berlusconi sets off on his second experience of government, there is nothing he would like better than to see his privileged plaything, AC Milan, dispute the final of the most prestigious club trophy right under the noses of friends and foes alike. As inauguration parties around here go, they don't get much better.
Zaccheroni knows only too well what is expected. To some extent, recent poor results have helped him. After a fortuitous 33 home draw with Bologna on Saturday night, AC Milan are now 17 points behind league leaders AS Roma, in joint fifth position. Realistically, Milan are out of the Serie A title race, a point conceded to The Irish Times by Zaccheroni last Friday, even before Saturday's draw with Bologna:
"Frankly, Roma are too far away out in front. In football, there are no certainties, but at this stage, I'd say it's almost impossible for us to overhaul Roma. We know our limits, and for that reason our objective both now and at the beginning of the season is and was to finish Serie A in the top four and that way be sure of playing in the Champions League next season."
Among the disappointments of the last month, Milan experienced a 4-2 aggregate Italian Cup semi-final defeat by Fiorentina in two games in which the Florence side's technical superiority and obvious physical well-being consistently embarrassed them.
Milan come into tonight's game on five points, two behind group leaders Galatasaray. With two home draws (against Galatasaray and PSG) and an away win (against Deportivo La Coruna) in the bag, Milan can go a long way towards booking a place in the quarter-finals with a win tonight.
Against the currently out of form PSG, beaten 1-0 away to Olympique Marseilles at the weekend, Milan should do better than at the San Siro last Wednesday where they were held to a 1-1 draw in a game in which they were down to 10 men for the entire second half, following the sending-off of Brazilian defender Roque Junior.
Zaccheroni's biggest worry for tonight concerns his defence since Georgian Khaka Kaladze is cup-tied, Roque Junior suspended and Alessandro Costacurta and Jose Chamot both ruled out by injury. Worse still, captain Paolo Maldini is doubtful following a knock picked up against Bologna.
After a week when Italian clubs recorded three defeats and two draws in European soccer, Milan can help re-establish Italian credibility (especially in the wake of Roma's lacklustre showing against Liverpool) with an away win tonight. Such a win could represent an important step on the long and winding road back to the San Siro - for May 23rd .
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