Making sense of Milan's 'six minutes of madness'

Soccer/Italian reaction: Paddy Agnew on how the Italian media reacted to AC Milan's defeat, with most commentators arguing they had only themselves to blame.

The headlines in yesterday's Italian dailies spelled it out loud and clear. Reviewing the dramatic events of Liverpool's penalty shoot-out defeat of AC Milan in Wednesday night's Champions League final in Istanbul, nearly all commentators pointed an accusatory finger at the Italian side's profligacy: "Mad Milan Make a Present of the Cup to Liverpool", read the front page headline of La Repubblica, whilst another Rome daily, Il Messaggero, struck a similar note, headlining their match report with "Milan Commit Suicide".

Milan-based sports daily Gazzetta Dello Sport carried a front-page banner headline that said simply, "Milan In A Nightmare", whilst Rome-based sports daily Corriere Dello Sport went with "A Milan That Would Make You Cry".

Whilst most commentators were full of praise for Liverpool's valiant second-half fightback, nearly all the critics argued that, in the end, Milan had only themselves to blame for losing a game they had already won: "Just unbelievable. Milan lost on penalties a cup they had already won. They lost badly, very badly. A side that scores three goals in the first 45 minutes, which outclasses its opponents, knocking them stupid with fabulous football, that same side simply cannot concede three goals in six minutes.

"The Liverpool charge was superb. The uncertain, stuttering team of the first half was magically transformed and managed to pull back the deficit. Gerrard, brilliant throughout, Smicer and Xabi Alonso pulled off a truly memorable feat.

"Honour to Liverpool and to their terrific 40,000 fans, honour to a side that defeated Chelsea, Juventus and Milan", wrote Gazzetta Dello Sport. "Milan handed over a cup they had already won, after leading 3-0 at half-time. Milan went missing, just as they had done against La Coruna last season and against PSV in the second semi-final tie when they thought they only had to defend their comfortable advantage.

"The most incredible Champions League final of all time was transformed into an orgy of emotions - joy for the English and sustained pain for Milan. You can always lose a Champions League final, but not this way, not this way, throwing away a three goal lead", wrote Corriere Dello Sport.

Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti was the object of much criticism with many commentators suggesting Milan were presumptuous in the second half, thinking they had the game all wrapped up. Talking to reporters, Ancelotti yesterday denied the accusation, saying: "There's no point looking for guilty parties. It was impossible to do more than we did since we played most of the game in their half of the field, dominating the match. We didn't think we had it won at half time.

"In the dressingroom at half-time, we were all too aware that we still had to go out there and play a second half, that it wasn't over yet. We had six minutes of madness, six incredible minutes. We weren't presumptuous nor did we make mistakes out of arrogance, those three goals came about by chance."

Ancelotti's boss, Milan owner and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was one of the few to absolve his players and his coach, telling reporters: "We lost out to six minutes of total madness. We dominated, we were never in difficulty. But I have no complaints about Ancelotti, why should I have?"

Many commentators highlighted the critical role of Liverpool's coach Rafael Benitez, underlining his ability to correct his initial mistakes by bringing on Vladimir Smicer and Dietmar Hamman.

"After all the talk about his Italian style football, he surprised us all by starting off with two strikers rather than with a midfield wall. Yet, he was able to reshape the horrible Liverpool of the first half producing a side that played entertaining football - well, for seven minutes anyway," wrote La Repubblica.