Milan masters!

So it's final! A repeat of the May 2005. Milan vs. Liverpool. Frankly a lot of observers rate this final as the least probable of the various possibilities. But you can't dismiss the underdogs. Trailing by that late Rooney winner from the Theatre of Dreams, the dreams turned into a nightmare right from the word go. Kaka and co. were superb, slicing through the MU defence, apparently strengthened by Vidic's return (but to me the makeshift defence played a bit better the week before), with apparent ease. Took them only 11 minutes to find the goal, and United was disunited. Another goal in each half finished them off.

It's just that MU played so badly that they hardly had a look at goal - only one shot in the whole match that Dida saved easily. Nothing worked for them. Not even Ronaldo's sidesteps. Milan just revved up the engine and stepped up the gears and MU was left way behind. The Milan midfield was superb - Gattuso in my mind is the linchpin; Pirlo and Seedorf played very well too. Credit must be given where it is due - Sir Alex at least paid tribute to the Milan winners.

So now Rafa has three weeks to figure out the antidote to Milan's early fire. The 3-0 experience of two years ago clearly shows what Milan could do off the blocks. But I'm sure Rafa will find a way.