Lazio almost beat Real Madrid as Milan fail against Celtic

We’re deep into the depression era at AC Milan: three consecutive draws in Serie A… then the first defeat at the hands of Palermo… and then another draw vs. Catania this week-end… the only competition which remained without blemishes for the Rossoneri was the Champions League. After tonight’s defeat vs. Celtic, another milestone has been reached: Milan is officially the richest team in the poorest of forms right now.

Meanwhile, Lazio were hosting Liga title holders Real Madrid at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, and managed to come back twice from behind after the Merengues goals scored by Ruud Van Nistelrooy. The hero of the night for the Biancocelesti was Macedonian striker Goran Pandev, who after ballooning an unmissable chance in the first period, redeemed himself in great style with 2 great goals: a stunning left-footed volley below the bar, and an accurate low shot into the bottom corner.

Lazio 2-2 Real Madrid

You almost wouldn’t believe it if you read it, but Real Madrid can consider themselves lucky to be coming out of the Stadio Olimpico with 1 point. The Biancocelesti fought their heart out to come back from behind tonight, and with a little more accuracy in the end zone could have even walked home with a victory. For lessons in finishing just ask Ruud Van Nistelrooy, who transformed into goals the only two chances that he obtained during the match.

Read the rest of the match report here

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	LAZIO-REAL MADRID 2-2
GOALSCORERS: 8′ Van Nisterlooy (R), 32′ Pandev (L), 61′ Van Nisterlooy (R), 75′ Pandev (L)
LAZIO (4-3-1-2): Ballotta — Behrami (66′ Scaloni), Stendardo, Cribari, Zauri — Mudingayi, Ledesma, Mutarelli — Mauri (78′ Del Nero) — Rocchi (66′ Makinwa), Pandev. (bench: Muslera, Kolarov, Meghni, Manfredini). Coach: D.Rossi.
REAL MADRID (4-2-2-2): Casillas — Sergio Ramos, F.Cannavaro, Heinze, Marcelo — M.Diarra, Guti — Sneijder (88′ Drenthe), Robben (78′ Higuain) — Raúl (83′ Saviola), Van Nisterlooy. (bench: Dudek, M.Salgado, Gago, J.Baptista). Coach: Schuster.

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Celtic 2-1 Milan

To cite Gaetano Di Stefano from Gazzetta dello Sport, the McDonald’s menu of Celtic Park will create a big indigestion to the Milan fans. Conceding the victory goal (for Celtic) in the 90^th minute outlines a very obvious problem for the Rossoneri: they are not only unable to finalize the plays they create, but their attention invariably lets go in the most crucial moments of the match. Dida’s incident with a Celtic fan after the goal (see below) does little to change that fact.

Read the rest of the match report here

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	CELTIC-MILAN 2-1
GOALSCORERS: 62′ McManus (C), 68′ pen. Kakà (M), 90′ McDonald (C).
CELTIC (4-4-1-1): Boruc — Doumbé (80′ Kennedy), Caldwell, McManus, Naylor — McGeady (84′ Nakamura), Hartley, Donati, Jarosik (84′ Killen) — S.Brown — McDonald. (bench: M.Brown, Riordan, Sno, O’Dea). Coach: Strachan.
MILAN (4-3-2-1): Dida (92′ Kalac) — Oddo, Bonera, Nesta, Jankulovski — Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini — Seedorf (55′ Gourcuff), Kakà — F.Inzaghi (76′ Gilardino). (bench: Cafu, Simic, Favalli, Brocchi, Emerson). Coach: Ancelotti.

Marco Pantanella writes on the mCalcio blog