Aging Milan ready to roll back years against Munich
ROME: AC Milan need to produce a performance worthy of their glorious past when they host Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal today.
Of the teams left in the competition, the six-times European champions arguably know best what it takes to go the distance. Only once in the past four seasons has the club failed to reach the last four.
The last time Bayern visited the San Siro stadium, in the first knock-out round of last season's competition, it was simply no contest, as Milan put four goals past the German side to seal a 5-2 win on aggregate.
This season, however, Carlo Ancelotti's team has shown signs of frailty, not just in Serie A, where they languish in sixth place, 35 points behind leaders Inter, but also in Europe, where they needed a brilliant extra-time goal by Brazilian playmaker Kaka to beat last 16 opponents Celtic.
Their captain, Paolo Maldini, admitted his side would have to raise their game if they wanted to progress.
"There are two faces to Milan's season. We're out of the championship, but remain strong contenders in the Champions League," said the 38-year-old defender, who is expected to start the game having shaken off a knee injury.
"This is the moment we have to show our best. We have to lift our game to a higher level than we've done so far."
Ancelotti warned his players they could not afford to throw men forward in attack, leaving themselves exposed at the back.
"They are a very compact team, and they know how to come forward on the break," he said.
"90 percent of their moves are aimed at (Roy) Makaay. He's a great finisher. If he gets through, he can hurt you."
Bayern have lost all four previous European clashes away to Milan and will be without experienced goalkeeper Oliver Kahn and midfield inspiration Mark van Bommel because of suspension as they try to improve on that dismal record.
Morale is nevertheless high after a convincing 2-0 win over Schalke 04 in the league on Saturday when Makaay scored his 100th goal for the club and Hasan Salihamidzic added the second.
"We deserved the win for all the chances we made and the result will give us more self-confidence going into the next game," coach Ottmar Hitzfeld told reporters.
Kahn was banned for one match after losing his temper in a doping control after the victory over Real Madrid in the last round and Bayern's chances could rest on how well the nerves of his 22-year-old understudy Michael Rensing hold up.
Rensing has one other Champions League appearance to his name and that was also against Milan in the 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena last season.
The loss of Van Bommel, sent off against Real, deprives the team of further experience as they look to avenge last year's defeat but Owen Hargreaves should be able to slot straight into the centre alongside Andreas Ottl.
PSV host Liverpool
Liverpool will start favorites but PSV Eindhoven coach Ronald Koeman will fancy another English scalp when the Dutch club host the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal today.
Koeman's side put out Arsenal in the first knockout round in March and last season, when he was in charge of Portugal's Benfica, he outwitted Liverpool counterpart Rafael Benitez at the same stage to knock out the then defending champions.
Koeman's Benfica also consigned Manchester United to bottom place in their group last season with a 2-1 home victory.
PSV are riddled with injury problems, however, for the visit of a Liverpool side who looked in fine fettle when beating Arsenal 4-1 on Saturday to go third in the Premier League.
Towering Brazilian defender Alex, whose header knocked Arsenal out at The Emirates Stadium, is sidelined by injury while Ivorian striker Arouna Kone suffered a knee injury in that game and has not played since.
Youngster Ibrahim Afellay, capped for the first time by the Netherlands last week, is also struggling to recover from a hamstring injury picked up during Saturday's 1-1 draw at NAC Breda a result that meant PSV's lead in Dutch league was trimmed to two points.
"We don't have the fittest squad at this moment," said Koeman, "but we will not give up despite two matches against Liverpool in a week.
"Afellay is a major doubt. We have problems battling for silverware on two fronts."
Former Dutch international striker Patrick Kluivert played against NAC, and could get a rare Champions League outing against Liverpool.
Liverpool and PSV have already met twice in this season's competition, Liverpool posting a psychological advantage with a 2-0 victory at Anfield and a 0-0 draw away in the group phase.
PSV will be wary of the threat of Peter Crouch.
The lanky England international scored in the 2-0 victory over PSV in November and was in sparkling form when he notched a hat-trick against Arsenal on Saturday after returning from surgery on his nose.
"Crouch hadn't played for 20 days because of his nose operation and he was desperate to play and score goals," Benitez said after the Arsenal win, hinting that Crouch may get the nod to start against PSV.
"All of his goals were fantastic. Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano controlled the midfield and it has set us up nicely for the Champions League against PSV Eindhoven."
Liverpool have proved a tough nut to crack in Europe this season, losing just one match away to Galatasaray when progress to the knockout phase was already assured.
Benitez confirmed on Sunday that captain Steven Gerrard, substituted against Arsenal, would be fit, saying the midfielder was simply tired after international duty.
Agencies
(China Daily 04/03/2007 page23)
