Unpredictable

Luca Antonini

Milan 1 Juventus 2

Del Neri's favorite 4-4-2 lined up on the pitch to match Milan's 4-3-3. Right from the start, Allegri had lost the tactical battle with this formation. Del Neri's men had an extra man in midfield which would mean that even if Milan controlled the game, breaking the Old Lady wouldn't be easy. Chiellini was called off action after having injured himself during the warm up. Ibrahimovic would have been all smiles when he sighted Chiellini limping to the bench. As expected, Milan dominated possession and looked the most likely to score. However, Quagliarella had other plans. He took advantage of Antonini's defensive lapse and headed home a beautifully placed header from a De Ceglie cross. The goal provided a sucker punch to Milan. Spirits and heads dropped while Juventus found their feet in the game. The Bianconeri grew in confidence after the goal and the home side did precious little to dampen the opposition's mood. Antonini has easily been Milan's worst player this season which begs me to ask, why isn't Bruno Montelongo being played this season? The highly rated right back was brought in the summer on loan to add to the numbers of the Primevera? I think not. Then why does Allegri still stick to the faded champions of the squad? Antonini can't dribble to save his life, his positioning sense is awful and his passing probably his worst attribute. How he makes the Milan first team remains a mystery. On the right flank, Bonera had a collision involving De Ceglie. The young left back was stretchered away with Pepe replacing him at left back. Yes, Pepe. Just to emphasize, Juventus' defense looked like this - Motta, Legrottaglie, Bonucci and Pepe! One would expect a flamboyant attack like ours to run riot, especially since we were at home. These are the occasions when Milan defy logic, which they successfully did. A lot of credit has been given to Abbiati over the last season. But he is astonishingly incompetent from set pieces and crosses. He fearfully flaps at the ball like a 15 year old would flap at a harmless mosquito. He cuts a sorry picture as a professional making it an embarrassing viewing experience. Juventus gifted Milan enough chances for this to become a mauling. However, Ibrahimovic chose not to take them.

The tall Swede continued to let chances slip by with poor first touches. His partner in crime Pato has taken to the idea of being Italy's Messi. But the Brazilian lacks the technical skill and quality to replicate the Argentine wonder which no one evidently has told him so far. Therefore, his runs into the penalty box inevitably ends up with lost possession. Aquillani and Melo were defensively efficient. Aquillani dropped deeper in the game to let Melo move up in attack and the Italian was relishing the midfield battle. Bonucci who has the tactical awareness of a tortoise was combining admirably well with Legrottaglie to keep Ibrahimovic very quiet. It was perhaps Chiellini's chance to smile. Just like in the first half, Juventus hit Milan out of the blue. Antonini to be held responsible again for not using his feet to clear the ball. He was trying to be innovative by doing the salsa with Sissoko but Del Piero didn't dance. I thought to myself, no Krasic and no Chiellini and Juventus are up by two goals to nil at the San Siro! Unpredictability can rarely be demonstrated any better. Following the second goal, Juventus dropped deep and opted to defend the lead. Ibrahimovic bagged one in the eighty second minute with Pepe unable to hold of the big Swede on the cross. Special mention to Antonini for playing a part with an assist. Milan dominated possession whilst Juventus relied on the counter. One of the notable observations that was made was of a talent called Sokratis. This Greek is a disaster waiting to happen; he is brash and crude with his challenges and lacks the composure at this level.

Its shocking that we could not beat a severely depleted Juventus. If our men had trouble against Pepe and Legrottaglie, it doesn't take an immensely imaginative mind to fathom how we would cope with Carvalho and Ramos. Ronaldo is arguably on top of his form at the moment and his razor sharp movement will hurt Milan. A defeat on Wednesday might see us getting knocked out of the Champions League much earlier than we would have imagined.

Milan - Ibrahimovic 82'

Juventus - Quagliarella 24', Del Piero 65'