Article by Mark Graham, Stats Nerd

Match Preview
UCL, Semi Final, 2nd Leg, AC Milan 3 v 0 Manchester United, San Siro, Milan, Italy, 19.45 GMT, Wednesday 2nd May 2007.
Goals: AC Milan: Kaka (11), Seedorf (30), Gilardino (78). Manchester United: n/a .    
Attendance: 78,500

So the stage is was set, its was in our own hands, but United were a poor poor show as Milan's superiority in the midfield destroyed the Reds, United employing a three man midfield left Kaka & Pirlo, Seedorf & Inzaghi to like a boxer aiming for a cut eye simply & ruthlessly over run United's weakness cutting off any sort of attacks from United & bossing the possession in the 1st half especially.

United named Vidic as a starter & looking rusty in the early going the Serbian struggled for pace, SAF had no tactical response to Milan who simply placed floating players whilst attacking in the gap between United's' back four & our midfield and the Reds suffered badly.

Within a minute Kaka had broken through the reds defence sending in a low cross which was waiting for a Milan player to touch for a goal, setting the pace early Milan just put the foot on the gas, Seedorf the forced fellow country man EVDS to save from a powerful shot just outside the box & the Reds were reeling looking like scared deer in the headlights.  Unable to keep the ball when United did have possession & looking increasingly like the Reds were going to conceded an early goal Kaka shot straight at EVDS.

SAF still kept the shame shape which was killing the Reds quickly and inevitably the floodgates were thrown wide open as exploiting the space in front of the Reds defence the Dutchman Seedorf headed a ball to Kaka and the UCL top scorer scored again taking his tally to 10 for the campaign punished United.

With nothing but pure scraps upfront United didn't get in to the car never mind get out if 1st gear as Rooney, Ronaldo & co were anonymous & even the small times the ball was available, as Milan kept the ball with brilliance our attack would loose possession every time causing untold pressure on a back four already struggling to plug the attacks of Milan.

With the score 1-0 & United still in the game technically, but not tactically, a defensive Chuckle Brother moment was surely the last thing SAF wanted but however in a quite woeful moment under limited pressure Heinze played a very awkward ball back into the path of Vidic who having to react quickly slipped under pressure and pouncing was Andrea Pirlo who then found Seedorf, Vidic trying to desperately clear saw the ball roll over his head as Seedorf veteran of many UCL finals blasted the ball into the net for the lead & increasing the chance of another UCL final appearance & it appeared the Reds were dead and buried.

As the second half started United tried pushing both full backs up the pitch and enjoyed more possession & space as O'Shea & Heinze had opportunities to create but with limited success as there forward partners had found out in the 1st hal.

SAF switched Ronaldo again but the PFA Double award winner was like the rest of his team may as well have had stayed at home.

United's only real chance of the night came after Rooney passed to Darren Fletcher, but as the Scot bared down on goal he poorly shot wide.

The final nail in a poor tactical performance of a coffin saw the Reds whimper out of the semi final as they seemed to a few years ago in the Santiago Bernabeu as Gilardino on the break ran through United defence before finishing well past EVDS

Now forget the Champions League distraction lets get our trophy back.

United Starting Line-up
Ratings in parenthesis
van der Sar (7); O'Shea (7), Vidic (5), Brown (6), Heinze (3); Fletcher (6), Carrick (5), Scholes (5), Ronaldo (5), Giggs (5), Rooney (5).
Subs Used: Saha (5) for O'Shea (77 mins).
Subs not used: Kuszczak, Ferdinand, Smith, Solskjaer, Richardson, Eagles.

United's Man of the Match
From the wreckage JOS & EVDS can come away with a decent performance, although we know we can play 1K times better than that.

Keano16's Reaction
Tactically United were shocking, after 15 minutes outmanned & out passed in midfield SAF did nothing, the brightest spark in our team was subdued by Gattuso & should have been moved elsewhere, but still nothing, that was until the second half when SAF decision was the push out back four higher up the pitch, resulting in more possession from the Reds but little going forward (the old European SAF tactic)

SAF needs a new game plan in Europe or this will continue to happen again and again on the continent, a box to box tackling midfielder & a pacy striker is needed ASAP, and lets go back to playing the last time we won it.

Moan of the Match
SAF & Heinze both require a slap, now forget it chaps & move on.

Was Our Prediction Right?
No we said 2-1, United Rant 7 v 50 Wrong Predictions.

Milestones
Louis Saha's 100th competitive appearance for United.
Ryan Giggs's 700th competitive appearance for United.

Miscellaneous Info
United’s next match is on Saturday 5th May 2007 in the Premiership at The Council House, 12.45pm K.O.