AC MILAN VS REGGINA

AC Milan needed a Kaka second-half penalty to salvage a draw with Serie A bottom side Reggina in a tight game at the San Siro as they lost ground to neighbours Inter in the race for the Scudetto.
Kaka's second-half penalty was enough to grab a point for the Rossoneri after Reggina had taken the lead through former Milan forward Davide Di Gennaro.
It came as a relief for Carlo Ancelotti's men who had had to deal with a stubborn Reggina side, but that relief was tempered by the withdrawal of the Brazilian goalscorer shortly after he had scored from the spot.
On-loan midfielder David Beckham declared his desire to make his loan spell from LA Galaxy permanent earlier in the week and he lined up in an XI that included two changes from the 3-0 win over Lazio with Ronaldinho coming in for Clarence Seedorf
and Mathieu Flamini replacing Phillipe Senderos.

Ancelotti's side went into the match full of confidence after their win in Rome last week but knew they would have to be at their best to see off a Reggina side who had held Roma to a 1-1 stalemate at the Oreste Granillo.
Reggina started in a confident fashion and Francesco Cozza flashed a 40-yard free-kick in an early warning to Christian Abbiati in the Milan goal.
Flamini, filling in for the suspended Andrea Pirlo in the Milan midfield, then tried his luck from distance but Reggina keeper Andrea Campagnolo managed to parry his effort.
Kaka had a quiet first opening 10 minutes but he suddenly sprung into life in the 14th minute when he took a looping ball down on his chest before firing a wicked volley which brushed Andrea Campagnolo's right-hand post.

Di Gennaro had come through the youth ranks at Milan before being sold to Genoa and he showed the San Siro what he was capable of when he called Abbiati into making a superb save soon after.
Abbiati was powerless to stop Di Gennaro on 33 minutes, however, when the striker latched onto Bernardo Corradi's cross to fire a low left-foot drive into the bottom right hand corner to give the away side the lead.
Ancelotti ordered his men forward and Ronaldinho almost gave him an instant response but his curling shot from the edge of the box brushed a post.
The Brazilian threatened just after the break when he aimed a 25-yard shot at goal but Campagnolo scrambled across his box to tip it around the right post.

Kaka and Alexandre Pato started to look threatening up front for Milan and the former world player of the year saw his close-range shot saved by Campagnolo just before the hour.
Ancelotti threw on Seedorf to try to breathe some life into his side and he thought the move had paid off when the Dutchman slotted home after Kaka had hit the post but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Beckham had put an industrious performance in the Milan midfield and his pin-point cross found Paolo Maldini but the veteran defender could only head straight at Campagnolo from close range.
The Milan fans started getting frustrated with their side and Ancelotti responded by replacing the ineffective Ronaldinho with Filippo Inzaghi.
Their anger turned to relief just after the hour when Matej Krajcik upended Pato in the box and Kaka slotted the spot kick home to put Milan on terms.
Inzaghi wasted several chances laid on to him by Beckham late on and Milan had to settle for a draw that leaves them eight points behind Inter ahead of next weekend's Milan derby.

WHAT WILL WE ACCOMPLISH NEXT SEASON (ZAMBROammo)

This is a very interesting question of how good we will do next season,will it be pretty or ugly?.This season have been a rollercoaster ride for the Players and The Club,we haven't do any big mistake that cause anything bad but sometimes as a fan we are not satisfied with the players performence.So far who have been our best players??

Next season will be a whole different situation because im pretty confidence that we will qualify for the Champions League,but how far will we travel this time around after an embarassing defeat to the hand of Arsenal powered by little kid last season,that faithful night i was asking myself whether we are good or strong or fast enough to compete and win the Cup again..

First the Italian Serie A,i feel we have a very strong chance to win the Serie A after so long of painful waiting,Inter will have to step up their game.Mourinho will once again conduct Inter to defend their title but it will not going to be easy this time,Juventus and Milan is right in Inter's path to clash with them.For the first time we will have a good mixture of youth and veterans to not just win the Serie A but dominate it.

Pato will mature better next season as he will reach 20 years of his life,with great help from Thiao Silva,Fillipe Mattioni etc...we will find ourselves as a true favorite to win.

Secondly The Uefa Champions League,yes this is the cup we have won for seven times.We will confidenly pass the group stages but beware of the later stages where the compittion will get tougher and tougher.The respect we will recieve from the opponent will enable us to get comfortable space to play our game but Carletto need to change his dependency towards the old legs.Until he show any sign of him wanting to change the tactics and the line up,i will still have a big doubt if we will have any chances to even touchdown at semifinal.

Lets talk about this and gave your comment about the topic created by ZambroAmmo..

AC MILAN 2-2 RANGERS

AS A source of both entertainment and income, Rangers' friendly engagement with AC Milan was an unequivocal success last night. A remarkable attendance of over 45,000 were attracted to Govan for the visit of the seven-times European champions and they did not leave disappointed.

Four goals, all of them in a second half which did not feature David Beckham who was replaced at the interval, were shared by two teams enjoying a break from serious business. It amounted to good business for Rangers who will have made a six-figure profit from the exercise in their well-publicised times of financial problems.As part of their commitment to this fixture, it seemed Milan had included a clause which prevented any serious form of tackling. The disclaimer would seek to protect their biggest names from suffering any setbacks which might see them miss any of a Serie A title pursuit behind their city rivals and reigning Italian champions Inter.

The lack of a genuinely competitive edge did not seem to trouble the supporters who had been tempted out on a wintry night, although the message did not get through to everyone.Youthful naivete could perhaps be used in John Fleck's defence when he left Felipe Mattioni crumpled in a heap with an uncompromising challenge in the opening minutes, but the 17-year-old Rangers prodigy incurred Milan's wrath nonetheless.Coach Carlo Ancelotti rushed to the edge of his technical area to glare at Fleck, while the youngster was also reproached by Beckham. Fleck's contrition towards Mattioni was genuine and accepted, however.While the Rangers fans had principally come to see Beckham, Ronaldinho & Co in the flesh, they would have been gratified to see their own team thrive in a non-pressurised situation as they produced some attractive passing football.

Pedro Mendes, partnered in central midfield by the fit again Maurice Edu as captain Barry Ferguson began the evening among the substitutes, was prominent in much of their eye-catching work and saw a powerful 20-yard shot deflected narrowly wide.Edu, understandably keener than most to make an impression after such a frustrating start to his Rangers career, found Fleck in space on the left with a neat pass, the young forward's terrific first touch then allowing him to wrongfoot Philippe Senderos and float in a cross which Kyle Lafferty should have done better with than head over from close range.While Milan were some way short of fully exerting themselves, they delivered enough of the kind of skill the big crowd had paid to see.

They should have opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Ronaldinho's brilliant ball over the top played in Filippo Inzaghi, but the supreme poacher did not connect properly as Allan McGregor was able to make a smothering save.Fleck's self confidence among such elevated company was another indication of his rich promise and his precisely delivered corner from the right picked out Lee McCulloch whose thumping header was well saved by Milan goalkeeper Dida. McGregor was a mere spectator at the other end when, from Milan's first set-piece opportunity, Ronaldinho curled in a trademark effort which struck the helpless Rangers' keeper's right-hand post.Fleck should have seized a moment to treasure when played in by Mendes in Rangers' next attack, but struck his low shot too close to Dida.

With Andriy Shevchenko cutting an anonymous figure, while Beckham flitted in and out of proceedings, Ronaldinho continued to the focal point of Milan's best moments. He picked out Inzaghi again with another sublime pass but the striker was foiled once more by McGregor.Beckham was among those who did not reappear for the second half. For the Rangers fans, the raft of substitutions represented rare sightings of Christian Dailly, DaMarcus Beasley and Andrius Velicka. The changes made by Milan, introducing Clarence Seedorf and Kaka among others, simply emphasised the gulf in resources.

When Seedorf curled a delicious effort narrowly off target, it seemed as if the visitors were poised to emphasise their superiority but it was one of Rangers' understudies who made the breakthrough.Beasley, a member of the PSV Eindhoven side controversially beaten by Milan in the 2005 Champions League semi-finals, savoured the moment as he pounced on an error from Matteo Darmian then shrugged off Andrea Pirlo's challenge before driving a precise low shot with the outside of his left boot beyond Dida into the corner.The lead lasted just five minutes, however, as a calamitous mix-up in the Rangers defence gifted Milan their equaliser. In attempting to cut out a Kaka cross, Dailly merely succeeded in striking the ball against team-mate Steven Whittaker.

The ball rebounded to Alexandre Pato and the young Brazilian stroked it home from close range.Rangers' substitute goalkeeper Neil Alexander then saved brilliantly from Inzaghi, but was helpless to prevent Kaka putting Milan 2-1 in front with 12 minutes remaining with a sweetly struck right-foot shot from the edge of the penalty area after latching onto Seedorf's pass.The home side were not prepared to accept even honourable defeat, however, and levelled in the 83rd minute through an unlikely source when Sasa Papac surged forward and finished off a fine pass from Aaron Niguez in admirably composed fashion.

Rangers: McGregor (Alexander 46), Whittaker, Bougherra (Dailly 46), Weir (Broadfoot 46), Papac; McCulloch (Boyd 81); Naismith, Edu (Davis 75), Mendes (Ferguson 46), Fleck (Beasley 46); Lafferty (Velicka 46). Subs not used: Miller, Niguez, Davis.

AC Milan: Dida, Mattioni (Jankulovski 61), Silva, Senderos (Darmian 46), Antonini (Albertazzi 75); Beckham (Seedorf 46), Flamini (Cardacio 61), Pirlo; Ronaldinho (Kaka 61), Inzaghi, Shevchenko (Pato 68). Subs not used: Donnarumma, Strasser.