The Curse

Delio Rossi does it, again

PALERMO 2 MILAN 1

The biggest frustration in a Milanista's life is Milan's incapability to overhaul the curse of Palermo. Coppa or the Serie A, Milan have no answer to this pink juggernaut. What Palermo possess is the hunger and the drive to succeed. Not winning this tie was out of question for Delio Rossi's men. Reaching the final in Rome would almost guarantee a place in Europe next season, a prize worth fighting for. Pastore and Ilicic started behind Hernandez. Antonini was handed a rare start by Allegri. Palermo made their intentions known right from the start. They attacked Milan from the flanks and down the centre. Milan defended deep providing Palermo with ample space to dictate the game in midfield. Milan's defenders invited Pastore into the box which increased his threat dramatically. He thrived on the space provided to him and he ran straight at the defense. He turned on the style with the nutmegs and the dribbles, often getting into scoring positions. Pirlo played on the left of centre, spraying those beautiful diagonal balls and allowing the full backs to move up. The width stretched Palermo and Milan's attacking style expanded across the pitch. Abate's crosses bombed Palermo's box but there was no one to get on the end of these crosses. Allegri started with Robinho and Pato and neither of these have shown potency in the air. The man who does demonstrate the needed potency was warming the bench. Pato's prolific nature overshadows his characteristically invisible performances. He wore the 'invisibility cloak' for the umpteenth time and rendered another dismal performance. After a bright start to the game, Palermo ran down the clock by parking the bus till half time.

Delio Rossi might have turned up the heat in the dressing room during the break. His 11 resembled the 300 spartans in the second half. Their fearless attack and dogged defense numbed Allegri's men, stupefying them of any response. Palermo's philosophy had changed from parking the bus to attack being the best form of defense. Milan took the turn to sit back and hit on the counter but the team lacked the pace for effective countering. Robinho might end this season as joint top scorer at Milan but his inability to get past Ilicic in a one-on-one situation raised eyebrows. A forward gifted in trickery must be able to get past an attacking midfielder with relative ease. Especially when the club paid over 20 million euros to purchase him. Many fans were restlessly looking at the bench. Ibrahimovic had to come on to add an dimension to Milan's predictable attack. However, Allegri took forever to make this change. Pirlo exposed his defensive frailities when not in possession. He does not track back, cannot keep up with a pacy forward and is tactically stupid to judge a run made by the opposition. Pirlo does not fit this system and is visibly not the type of player who would thrive in Allegri's set up. Palermo knocked and knocked until Milan's defense cracked. A set piece situation. It had to be. Silva, who had a remarkable game switched off allowing Miglaccio a free header to open the scoring. Promptly, Allegri introduced Ibra hoping for some magic from the Swede. Palermo continued to dictate skill on the ball but also revealed their dirty side. Ilicic's dive saw Van Bommel walk, unjustly. Sometimes, the Dutchman gets undone by his infamous reputation. Milan now faced the impossible task of overturning this fixture with 10 men. Bovo also saw red which levelled the playing field. The task no less harder though with the clock ticking fast on Allegri's double. Allegri's act of desperation saw new light when he introduced Cassano for Nesta. These desperate measures did win him a goal, but not the game.

Delio Rossi won the match and the tie for Palermo. The disgraced manager proved that he is a superb tactician. Changing the mentality of the team over 15 minutes is one of the biggest challenges of the modern day manager and Rossi succeeded in this challenge. Kudos Mr. Rossi. Now to the final.

Palermo - Miglaccio 63', Bovo 73' (pen)
Milan - Ibrahimovic 90'