Nobody was suspended, guys...
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Milan give Old Lady the mother of all beatings
As Jessica Lange and Jack Nicholson proved in The Postman Always Rings Twice, there's nothing like a little top-of-the-table one-on-one action to get the juices flowing. Saturday night's visit by Juve to Milan certainly did just that. A bona fide top-of-the-table six-pointer, the match saw Milan rip their lauded rivals apart, opening a veritable can of shock and awe on the supposed tough guys of Serie A.
Juve had won all nine of their matches coming into this game, but as you've probably read elsewhere, Milan didn't just break their unbeaten streak, they trampled all over it, smashed it repeatedly against the wall and then ground the fragments into the dirt under their fancy Italian heels.
Led by an inspired Rino Gattuso, a man who took his duties so seriously he eventually had to be taken aside and told to calm down by Paolo Maldini, Milan were all over La Vecchia Signora like a sailor on payday; attacking every ball, flying in to every tackle. They may have been gifted the first goal through a lucky deflection, but even Juve had to admit that there was only one team in it.
Surprisingly, Milan won the game in the midfield. All season, we've been hearing about Juve's world-class partnership of Emerson and Vieira, but they swiftly found themselves outclassed and out-passed on Saturday. As a result, Trezeguet and Ibrahimovic never got a look in. By half time the closest Milan's keeper Dida had come to conceding was a suicidal back-pass from team-mate Serginho. Down the other end, meanwhile, the Rossoneri had already taken a three-goal lead. And if they spent their half-time break celebrating in the locker room, at least this time they had the good grace to keep a lid on it.
After the break and the obligatory reminders about Istanbul, a strangely subdued Fabio Capello threw on Adrian Mutu and eventually Alex Del Piero, but all Juve could muster was a lone goal from David Trezeguet - one which ties Monsieur Trezegol with Michel Platini on Juve's all-time scoring charts, but otherwise didn't help much.
So 3-1 it ended, leaving Juve a measly two points clear of the Rossoneri, instead of the tasty eight-point lead they'd been gleefully anticipating before kick-off. Moreover, Milan have picked up a huge boost to their battered confidence - previously the Istanbul Bottlers, they are now back in the groove.
Certainly Milan Supremo Silvio Berlusconi was in buoyant mood after the game, hosting the Juve chiefs of staff to a truffle-laden dinner (these are the same Juve personnel that, according to rumours in Turin, Berlusconi is eyeing up to replace his current mob at Milan).
"This was just a friendly dinner," Silvio told shivering hacks when he emerged sometime after 1am. "Juve and Milan are both great clubs, the only difference being that Milan have something called Berlusconi. You can be snide about it if you like but the facts speak for themselves. Over the last 19 years, with me running things, Milan have been more successful than any other club in the world. That proves something!"
:groan::fero:
It certainly does. Leaving aside the fate of the country under his tutelage (clue: it's not been quite as sharp), Berlusconi next revealed his dreams for the future of the club to the hushed assembly. These include the return of Marco Van Basten as manager and more besides. Much more.
Although he controls Italian newspapers, supermarkets, giant slabs of industry, state and private television, not to mention the government, Berlusconi was only ever forced to give up the presidency of his football club to satisfy the conflict of interests laws. Small wonder, then, that he still wants to expand his portfolio: "If I ever took back Milan I wouldn't be just the president - I'd have to be the manager too. That's always been my dream. Don't forget," he called, as someone wheeled him away into the night. "I've always been a revolutionary."
While Berlusconi was off mapping out Milan's new frontier, Juve were refusing to panic - at least publicly. Still, high on Capello's worry list must be their continued problems between the posts, where both Christian Abbiati (on loan from Milan and absent with a timely bout of tonsillitis on Saturday) and Antonio Chimenti have looked risky at best. First choice keeper Gigi Buffon is still recovering from a shoulder injury picked up against Milan back in August, and while he's stepped up his training, he still won't be back until the start of December ... much to the delight of Juve's near rivals.
guardian.co.uk