I was lucky as heck to be able to get my hands on a ticket for the Milan match which means I'd be watching the match alone. That's right, all by myself. Do I mind travelling on my own to Manchester to watch a football match? Do I balls!! It's the fucking Champions League semi-final, the last European game to be played at Old Trafford this season and I'd be damned if I were to miss it!!
Even though I only found out last Friday that my ticket application was successful, I didn't mind at all. Train tickets booked and good to go. I was very hyped as I made my way to the stadium along with a huge stream of supporters, singing songs as they made their way into the stadium. It's all part of the matchday experience.
These are things you don't get with Manchester United pre-season tours in Asia, where the glory hunters all come out in full force. Malaysian Manchester United supporters should come with the Malaysian Red Devils supporters club to the match in KL on July 28. It'd be much more fun to go to the match with the club. No kidding. Moving on....
I walked straight into the terraces as there really wasn't much to do outside. I've already taken all the photos I need from my past visits to the stadium. I really don't want to spend my money in the Megastore. As a matter of fact, I only had 12 quid on me, of which 5 I spent on a match day scarf, 3 on a programme, and 4 to put aside for the bus ride to Kuan Ching's place.
Milan, 6 time European Champions, went into the match knowing what United did to Roma a fortnight ago when the Reds absolutely tore the Italians apart 7-1. Fact is, there is no team in Europe right now that are playing the kind of football United is playing at the moment: free-flowing, attacking football. Not even the self-proclaimed "kings of silky football" from London, Le Arse.
I duly took my seat at the East Stand. The view was perfect, much better than the South Stand and the North-West quadrant where I was sat the past few times. The stadium was just beginning to fill and right from the outside, you get the sense that everyone was up for it. We know when a huge match is beckoning and everyone outside the stadium making their way in that night was in full voice.
A banner at the East Stand upper terrace with Kaka's face on it caught my eye. The Italians were already there, albeit a little quiet. There was also an entire section of away supporters on the left terrace from where I was at. It did not worry me one bit as I was in Old Trafford, Manchester not the San Siro in Milan so the helmet and body armour was left at home.
The team sheets were read out to the crowd, confirming what we already know. Our entire defensive line-up were ravaged by injuries. It never is a joy to have to face AC Milan, much less without your entire first choice defence. No Rio, Vidic nor Gary Neville. Patrice Evra was back though, which meant Fletcher did not have to slot in at right back.
By then, the stadium was packed and faint chants of "United, United!" were heard from the West Stand. Like an avalanche that grew in size as it swept across the stadium, it quickly became a loud roar. That was when I first felt the spine chills that European nights offer. Old Trafford became a huge cauldron of noise with songs deafeningly echoing around the stadium. Those that weren't singing were clapping along. Fantastic atmosphere, it was.
One can only wonder what the Italians higher up in the stands were thinking. This is nothing like the quiet half empty stadiums in Italy. This is not the Stadio Delle Alpi in Turin nor the Olympic Stadium in Rome. Benvenuto a Old Trafford, i miei amici.
"We are the Pride of the North" came from the East Stand next, and it really helped that all the supporters around me were vocal. Now I get to sing and chant along without looking like an absolute nutter!
The PA speakers around the stadium started booming. The 2 teams walked out to the pitch and formed a line in front of the centre circle. A familliar tune started playing. It was the Champions League anthem blaring across the stadium. I took a video of it, and it was the last one I'd take that night. I decided to enjoy the match without the trouble of having to hold a camera phone.
The announcer started to announce the players' name on each teams. Each Milan players' name was greeted with jeers and whistles and naturally, every one of the Reds' name (even Richardson) were punctuated with cheers.
By the time the whistle was blown to signify the start of the game, an ear-splitting rendition of "U-N-I-T-E-D" was already doing it rounds around the stadium. United started brightly, and right away Ronaldo was already making runs down the right flank. As suspected, Fergie sent out a 4-5-1 to match Milan's system, with Rooney as the lone striker and Fletcher, Carrick and Scholes the trio in the heart of the midfield.
We had the upper hand for much of the opening minutes, or at least through my red-tinted glasses, we were!! Barely 5 minutes into the game, the East Stand got up on its feet in anticipation of a Giggs corner.
Giggs' ball in was met with a mad scramble and the next thing we knew, the ball was in the back of the net. Who scored, at that point, was unclear but to heck with it. United are 1-0 up! A couple of minutes later, the name Cristiano Ronaldo was announced through the speakers.
It was the perfect start we were hoping for and you can't help thinking about the final already even though there is quite a while to go yet. If the crowd wasn't in high enough spirits before then, they certainly are now! The away supporters were very unlike their English counterparts, barely a murmur came out from the stands. It was a far cry from the exchange of taunts that happens regularly against English away supporters every weekend in the Premier League.
We started extremely brightly and Ronaldo saw a few chances pass him by. Even O'Shea got the crowd going with a couple of step-overs. Milan however, started to do their usual stuff, play keep ball and passing it around midfield.
It is a known fact that English and Italian sides play very contradicting styles of football. The Italians play a patient brand of football and are very good at keeping the ball and tiring the opposition down before striking when an opportunity shows itself while the English sides' first instinct when they have the ball is to attack and press the opponents for it when they don't.
It was pretty evident though that we have an ace against Milan and that is pace, loads of it. Milan just weren't comfortable with our counter-attacks and each on of them were roared on by a capacity 76,000 crowd in the stadium. As the teams look pretty settled, we decided to indulge ourselves with a little jibe at the blue rent-boys from London, the current English Champions, Chelsea:
"Mourinho, are you listening?
You better keep our trophy glistening,
Cz we'll be back in May,
to take it away,
Walking in a Fergie Wonderland"
Which made the Kaka goal at about 20 minutes all the more hard to swallow for Milan did little right until then. A slow build-up by Milan at the left flank was beautifully finished by Kaka, who made a great run from midfield to outpaced everyone else and coolly slotted past Van der Sar.
Everyone was stunned. The away supporters who were subdued before then, came into life and started singing and chanting. Most of them looked in our general direction and started fist-pumping at us. A couple of the Brits on our side told them where to go.
This is where the myth about United fans being quiet when the chips are down goes down the drain. Right away, we responded, roars of "Red Shirts, Come on You Reds" drowning out the Italian chants.
Milan started to dominate our midfield by then but we still managed to create a couple of half chances. Evra got past their defence and really got the crowd on its feet only to be flagged for offside while Ronaldo continued to make his runs but the lack of an end product coupled with his selfishness really got on the crowd's nerves at times.
Nothing was going our way as well. The referee was a right tosser and kept giving bad decisions against us. And at the 40th minute, Kaka struck again. A disaster at the back of the defence left Kaka wide open in front of goal and as much as we prayed God could strike him down, he scored to give Milan the lead. Again, the away supporters magically sprouted into life, sang a couple of tunes and sunk back into non-existence.
2-1 it was and it was going to be a huge mountain to climb. The teams went in at half-time with everyone in the stadium wondering if this was to be our night or were we to fall short again. Noone seemed to be interested at the half-time proceedings. Formula One driver and supposed United fan Mark Webber was introduced but noone gave a toss about him. Hehe, what a loser.
The teams came out again for the second half and there were no changes to either side. Fergie reverted to a 4-4-1-1 though, to give the team a more attacking outlook. To the crowd's delight, right away, the lads showed they weren't going down without a fight and it unsettled Milan. We were first to all the 50-50's and the crowd sensed a comeback and really upped the temperature for the Italian pin-up boys.
Wave after wave of United attacks were thwarted but not before Milan sprang a couple of counter-attacks of their own. When Kaka volleyed over the bar after a series of passes pinged past us, the jeers were more of relief than taunts. 3-1 would really have killed the tie.
The sight of 10 red shirts running at full pace against your ageing legs roared on by 76,000 people couldn't have been a pretty sight but that was what happened. Everyone was cheering on the team. I was slighly overwhelmed, to be honest. I've never heard anything like it. The noise was incredible.
The players seemed to take on the energy from the crowd and upped the tempo against Milan. We could see it then. Milan were bottling it. And what do they do? They started to resort to dirty tricks like time-wasting and diving. Dida took ages for a goal-kick and players started to go down "injured" to pause the game and slow the pace of the match down.
Fletch went in for a clean tackle on Gattuso but the cheating bastard fell like a sack of potatoes. Sorry mate, bad move. The referee awarded a free-kick against us and this time, the crowd really went mad from the sense of injustice. Jeers and whistles resonated around the ground, and "Same old Italians, Always Cheating" chants thundered down onto the field. Not pretty to be on the receiving end, I can tell you that.
Ronaldo was not brilliant but was still keeping at it on the left, tormenting Oddo who must be wondering if the match would ever end. At one point, there were 4 Milan players surrounding United's no.7, and a sweet pass to Rooney came to nothing as Gattuso swept Rooney down to the ground. No booking. Unbelievable. Justice was served when Gattuso came off injured moments later. No hero's applause for him though. He left the field to whistles and boos.
Without Gattuso keeping the ship steady in midfield, Milan's threads began to unravel. They were losing the midfield battle. Every lost 50-50 was greeted with roars. "Come on, you Reds" was a regular theme throughout the match and all our pressure paid off when Rooney scored on the hour mark. Needless to mention, the crowd went ballistic.
2-2. Game on. The away supporters did not show the slightest hint of reaction which is understandable for they knew what was unfolding before their eyes. Milan had cracked. Buckled under the pressure. Noone in the ground believed that Milan would score another one. Kaka, who had been brilliant in the first half, was completely anonymous. From then on, it was all United.
They didn't even have the intention of scoring another one. They knew 2 away goals were enough and it was damage limitation time. And it was. 2-2 was hardly the perfect result for us. We needed at least one more and we knew Milan was very vulnerable at that stage and was there for the taking.
The sight of Solskjaer warming up on the sidelines caught the crowd's attention. "Ole, ole, ole, ole" rang out from the East Stand. What we wouldn't give to have our super-sub save our arses again. Wasnt' to happen, though. None of the starting XI were substituted as it turned out.
It was clear that Gattuso's departure was the turning point as Milan just couldn't live with the pressure United were applying to them. Carrick and Scholes were stringing passes left and right and Fletcher was immense in midfield. Giggs' freekicks came very close and Fletcher had a wonderful shot saved by Dida. He was the only one keeping them in the game.
As the minutes ticked by, the stadium got more tense. Everyone was wondering if that was it. A 2-2 draw.
The 4th official held up the board signalling 2 minutes of added time. Too little time added on after all the Italians' time-wasting antics. I am sure Fergie would have something to say about that.
That sense of injustice was quickly put aside however when Giggs and Rooney broke away from the Milan midfield and started to break.
Everyone in the stadium rose to their feet in anticipation. The Milan defenders back-pedalled desperately at the sight of Giggs running at them at full flight. They knew once they let either Giggs or Rooney past them, they were never going to catch them. Not at age 34 anyway. Giggs then cut infield towards the middle and Rooney cut outwards in the opposite direction.
"Come on, Giggsy, pass it!"
But he didn't. Not immediately anyway. He waited and waited and waited. And then, he slotted the perfect pass to Wayne Rooney and I could have sworn time stopped there and then.
Rooney began to shape himself to shoot....
"yeaa....."
... and the ball rocketed past Dida into the back of the net...
".....AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
Milan had totally bottled it and Old Trafford erupted. All the tension and nerves that had been building up to that goal was just let loose. Everyone just went crazy, screaming, hugging each other and jumping. I'll never forget that moment as long as I live. The volume was ear-splitting. This bloke beside me put his arms around me and we just jumped and jumped with sheer jubilation. Football, eh? Fucking hell, indeed!!
As the Milan players dragged themselves to restart the game, a crashing chorus of "Glory, Glory Man United" boomed from the stands. They tried to attack but ended up passing the ball around in midfield till the final whistle. They knew the first leg was over. The referee blew to end the game and again, cries of joy were heard around the stadium.
The players left the pitch to a well-deserved standing ovation and the fans continued to savour the moment. The announcer's voice came on the speakers again announcing the score:
Manchester United 3 AC Milan 2
As the large crowd bottle-necked at the exit, loud renditions of "Oh United, We Love You" were sung by all the reds. I looked to the left where the away supporters were and they began applauding us. They knew how special the night had been, the intensity of the crowd and the sight of United grabbing a late winner yet again. We returned the courtesy.
Of course, the semi-final tie is far from over. There is still a second leg at Milan and the 2 away goals could prove decisive but at that night, nobody gave 2 hoots. From the high spirits of the crowd, you'd be forgiven for thinking we'd won the cup!!
That's Old Trafford for you and I was really privileged to have been able to witness United at our best on a huge European night. Here's to hoping we can go all the way and win the lot. In the meantime, I'll just keep replaying the night over and over again, when I was at Old Trafford. Home of Manchester United, the pride of Europe. The Theatre of Dreams...
....until you try to make your way out post-match, that is.....
