Champions League: Evidently Kahn Missed the Man U-Roma Match
By: Martha | April 12th, 2007
In their post-match comments last night, everyone at Bayern (at least those whose remarks appeared in the English-language press) was remarkably gracious, eagerly admitting Milan were the better side on the day and deserved to go through. Ottmar Hitzfeld, while annoyed with his own team’s lapses, acknowledged that there was really nothing they could have done: “[We were] perfectly prepared and had big plans for this match, but I have to admit that we don’t have the class of Milan … They are one of the greatest teams in the world.” Which, you know, was quite a nice thing to say, particularly given how desperately Milan have struggled at times this season.
Bayern keeper Oliver Kahn, too, was feeling generous after the match. Like really, really generous. Speaking from his home in Castle Greyskull, he said: “Milan are the best team in Europe. They are solid in defense, very fast, very professional and play at the highest technical level. They must be favorites to win the competition.” Now, while hearing something like that from a world-class player like Kahn must have made people in the Milan camp feel all warm and fuzzy, to call the Rossoneri favorites is completely outrageous at this point. I mean, did Kahn not see Man U dismantling Roma on Tuesday? Don’t get me wrong here — I’m not saying Milan can’t or won’t beat Man U, but come on. Anyone who looks that dominant in the quarterfinals earns the right to go into the semis as the team everyone wants to upset.
(Also: Clarence Seedorf rules.)
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Tags: AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Champions League, Manchester United, Oliver Kahn, Ottmar Hitzfeld, Serie ASubscribe
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Comments
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Lovin the He-Man reference. Awesome. But really, there has got to be something more to league play that can help explain how Inter and Roma dominate domestically but struggled in Champions League while Milan struggled for so long (not recently) domestically but keep plugging along in Europe.
I don’t necessarily think the Premiership is the best league but they sure know how to play Champions’ style (at least this year’s).
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United States
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Kahn’s opinion is pretty much reasonable. Firstly, Milan class and experience in UCL cannot be compared to the green Roma. Their recent five years performance proves it. Secondly, MU is not even stronger than Bayern, who toppled other powerhouses like Madrid and Inter. It seems that the time has come for Milan to revenge their Istanbul loss.
Posted from
Singapore -
For me, Muddia, with Milan it has a lot to do with both experience and pressure. I bet for the first half of the season, playing in Europe was sort of a relief for the team — getting away from Calciopoli and the insane press scrutiny. As they advanced, the older players who have been there countless times sort of stepped up and showed the few newbies how it was done. I really think the power of experience at that level can’t be over-estimated. (NO idea what happened to Inter, though.)
And I don’t think it’s that the Premiereship plays a style that works in Europe, I think it’s that Benitez, Mourinho and Ferguson know how to manage in those games — there’s a big difference between those two ideas.
Posted from
United States -
Man U have lots of young and fast players, but not neccessarily experienced.
If experience matters, then Milan definitely have the edge, so hopefully they will win in that department.This situation almost reminds me of Italy’s semi-final situation in the World Cup last summer. Germany had young players, they were on fire , Nobody thought Italy would go through… but they did.
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United States
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