'Whitewashed' at the Bernebau

Massimilano Allegri

Real Madrid 2 AC Milan 0

It's always tough to go up against Mourinho. It's tougher, perhaps much tougher when you are in your first season in the Champions League and you are facing the 'Special One'. This might result in tactical errors and a few lapses in judgment . But to get your game-plan wrong from the start to the finish would be counted as plain dumb. Allegri is likely to face this allegation.

He started with the same team that appeared against Chievo at the weekend. The same midfield which accounts for a whopping 97 years in the middle of the park. And these fossils are only 3 in number in the middle of the park unlike the traditional 4 man midfield. When facing a team as slick and quick as Madrid, one requires legs in the midfield. Allegri opted for crutches. Seedorf started the game and astonishingly clocked 90 minutes! Also, Mr. Allegri opted for Bonera to partner the ailing Nesta. I reckon he has forgotten that Sokritis was purchased in the summer to cover for first team injuries. To compound his erroneous ways, he chose to go with Zambrotta at right back. This is the side from which Ronaldo would attack. A 34 year old against a pacy 24 year old who is in blistering form at the moment. Allegri probably asked the defense to hold a deep line in order to deal with the pace of the attackers. This made sense initially but invites too many attackers into the penalty box and increases the space between the midfield and the defense since Milan didn't have an anchor man. Both of Madrid's goals were a result of defending deep and not closing the front 4 effectively. Zambrotta chose to run away from the ball rather than attack it. This helped Ronaldo to attack Milan's goal a lot more and provided him with a number of options as he got closer to the goal. He could then choose from Ozil, Di Maria and Higuain, all of whom he found throughout the game with relative ease. Gattuso and Zambrotta were assigned the task of keeping him quiet but he was simply too hot to handle. At times, he toyed with both these players showing a clear lack of respect for their seniority. This compelled Pato to backtrack and suddenly all three players on the right hand side of Milan's line-up were attempting to close down Ronaldo. This still proved to be ineffective. AC Milan didn't have too many shooting opportunities because Carvalho and Co. kept the defense very well organized. This is a hallmark of a Mourinho side. Pirlo did work Casillas from a set-piece though. Ronaldo turned Nesta inside out countless times making the legend resemble an amateur. Amelia kept the scoreline respectable by pulling out some spectacular saves and by charging at the right times. He made a solid debut and was clearly the best player for the away side.

Even after being 2 goals down, Milan showed no urgency in their game. They relaxed when Madrid had the ball, allowing the home side to pass and move without applying any pressure. So disappointing was the attitude that the players in the red and black looked lethargic and disinterested. Allegri introduced Boatang and Robinho in the second half which changed the complexion of the game and also impacted Milan's attitude considerably. Both these players added mobility and guile into the attack causing Madrid a few concerns. Robinho also worked Casillas after coming on, something Ronaldinho couldn't manage to do. Madrid put in a professional performance and shut out Milan adequately for the rest of the match.

Allegri was tactically outclassed but in his defense, he didn't even try to be tactical. There could be very little reason to explain why Seedorf played the whole game when he was responsible for the first goal and was also guilty of ruining Milan's best chance in attack. Also how could one explain Zambrotta's inclusion at right back when Sokritis can be employed in that position and could have shut out Ronaldo competently thereby nullifying Madrid's biggest threat? In the substitutions front, Pato was sacrificed for Inzaghi. It's been fairly obvious for sometime now that Inzaghi and Ibrahimovic can't play together and still Allegri opts for that combination. Antonini was playing as a left midfielder leaving plenty of space for Di Maria and Ozil to exploit on the right. Therefore, Nesta had to cover a lot more ground which evidently he couldn't do. Why was Antonini given the license to attack? Also, why did Allegri wait till the 58th minute to bring on Boatang when the entire footballing fraternity thinks that the Ghanaian should have started? Allegri asked for perfection before the game. He should be perfecting his plans before asking anything off his players. Allegri either didn't do his homework or he was too afraid to implement his plans and chose to be safe by fielding Milan's most experienced players. Whatever be the reason, this is Allegri's worst performance of the season so far. He has a few stern tests coming up and it will be interesting to note how he changes his tactical approach after this experience.

Madrid - Ronaldo 13', Ozil 14'
Milan - /