Or: Damn you, Pippo Inzaghi

Ok, let's get the bitterness out of the way right off the top:

• Milan's first goal was deflected in off Inzaghi's arm. In other words, handball. In other words, it should never have counted.
• The ref blew his whistle to end the game before stoppage time was up. So much for that little announcement, "There will be a minimum of three minutes' extra time." Or the fact that there'd been a substitution in stoppage time, which should have been even more time added on.
• And that was just the final straw in a game that featured some rather biased refereeing. How many 50/50 decisions went against Liverpool? (If I was really bitter, I would wonder how much Berlusconi paid the ref. But I'm not that bitter. Quite.)

I'm not really disappointed in the team, but I'm disappointed for them. I thought they did well to get as far as they did, and they were the better team for most of the match. They shut down Milan's midfield quite effectively -- which was the key to their game plan -- and they created way more chances on goal. The problem, as it's been so often this season, was that they couldn't convert any of those chances.

Rafa went with a 4-5-1 formation, which I didn't predict but I actually preferred. With the right players, it can actually be a much more attacking set-up than 4-4-2. But it depends a lot on having quality wingers. Liverpool had...Jermaine Pennant and Bolo Zenden. Yeah. They both worked hard, but Zenden doesn't have the legs to be a true winger, and Pennant, although he was helped out by Jankulovski having a nightmare of a game, needs to do some serious work on his crossing (seriously, please sit him down with a David Beckham highlight reel so that he can learn to put a dangerous ball into the box rather than hanging it up every time).

The other thing is you need somebody who's effective as a lone striker. Whereas in this game, on one side, we had Alessandro Nesta, reminding us that the list of hotshot Italian centre-halves does not begin and end with Fabio Cannavaro, and Paolo Maldini, who I've concluded is some kind of ageless creature who feeds on the blood of virgins (insert Kaka joke here). On the other, we had Dirk Kuyt. That's not even close. Again, he worked hard -- and even scored a late consolation -- but that's not enough over 90 minutes. Liverpool could badly use a top-class finisher, and they've been struggling to fill that role ever since Michael Owen left.

Normally Steven Gerrard is the player you expect to pop up with the game-winning goals, and he had a few decent chances yesterday -- particularly that one where he was in alone on Dida and didn't place the ball quite right to squeeze it past the keeper, which I'm sure he'll be kicking himself over for months. It just wasn't happening.

Whereas Milan, who only had a handful of shots, got a couple of lucky breaks and made the most of them. Their first goal was from a free kick in a dangerous position, but I'm confident that Pepe Reina would have saved it if not for the deflection. The second came late in the game, with Liverpool throwing everybody forward for an equalizer, as Kaka, freed up by Javier Mascherano being subbed off, slipped the ball through the Liverpool defence to Inzaghi -- who was onside for possibly the first time in his entire life -- to kill the game off. (oh, that, and a nice display of time-wasting after he took a ball to the stomach. Suck it up, you rat-faced little bastard.)

I've seen some post-game criticism of Rafa's tactics, but I think he got it right, for the most part. Playing five across midfield meant that they were able to close Milan down quickly and not give them time to play, while also freeing up Gerrard, although he couldn't reproduce his Istanbul heroics this time around. Rafa probably could have made his substitutions a bit earlier (and I'm still confused by Arbeloa on for Finnan, frankly), but overall he did the best he could with somewhat limited resources -- i.e., Bolo Zenden. I thought Harry Kewell looked like a better option when he came on, but starting him would have been a big gamble. The result just highlights the areas they have to invest in over the summer.

I would dearly love to ignore all the hoo-ha about this game being a rematch of the 2005 final, but let's be realistic. Even leaving aside the hype, both teams are unquestionably going to be influenced by the result that night, with both sides hoping to learn from their mistakes then.

So I'll say the same things now as everyone did two years ago: I expect it to be a cagey, low-scoring game, with both teams being very cautious. That all goes out the window if Milan score in the first two minutes again, but Liverpool's defence looks stronger this year, simply by virtue of the fact that it no longer includes Djimi Traore. (I kid, but actually I'm not sure who Liverpool should be starting at left-back; probably Jon Arne Riise, although that depends on whether they've got anyone else fit to play on the left of midfield.) And Milan's strike force looks weaker, after the departures of Crespo and Shevchenko.

Key matchups

• Pippo Inzaghi vs. the Liverpool back line: Carlo Ancelotti's biggest selection dilemma is probably whether to pick Inzaghi or Alberto Gilardino to start up front. I'm leaning towards Inzaghi, because he's got more experience and is a better finisher than Gila. But the Liverpool offside trap is a thing of beauty and a joy forever, and I want to Jamie Carragher swatting Pippo around like a fly.
• Kaka vs. Mascherano: You can't neglect the rest of their midfield, but containing Kaka is obviously vital if you want to contain Milan. United didn't have the resources to do this -- in fact, they didn't even try, if you believe Sir Alex's claim that they decided not to man-mark him -- and it cost them dearly. Liverpool won't make the same mistake, and in Javier Mascherano they have the right man for the job. In 2005, bringing on Didi Hamann at halftime to anchor the midfield completely changed the game for Liverpool, and Mascherano, with the experience of playing against Kaka for Argentina, will be expected to do the same here.
• Gerrard vs. Gattuso: Captain Fantastic vs. the man he's referred to as a kitten. Both players are the heart of their team and will run themselves into the ground to win, although they play a very different style. Gattuso is a terrier, snapping at the ankles of opponents, while Gerrard is...well, Animal from the Muppets is still the best analogy I've managed to come up with. Plus the ability to score 30-yard screamers and send commentators into hysterics. RAAAAAAAAAAR.
• Alonso vs. Pirlo: Both deep-lying playmakers, so they probably won't spend a lot of the game going up against each other directly. But in both cases, their ability to find space and pick out a teammate with a pass is vital to how their team performs. Alonso has been dropped for a few games recently, including the second leg of the semi-final, but I expect him to be back against Milan, where retaining possession is more crucial than it was against Chelsea.
• Liverpool's toothless strikers vs. Milan's ageless defence: I really have no idea who's going to start up front for Liverpool, or whether they'll be able to unlock the Italians' defence. Let's face it, Paolo Maldini is hardly going to be panicked by the sight of Peter Crouch, no matter how discombobulating his robot dance may be. I kind of lean towards starting Dirk Kuyt, who may not have much pace but always works hard and may be able to wear them out. Crouch is probably their best finisher, though -- and in that department, they're no worse off than they were in 2005, with Baros and Cisse playing like headless chickens in front of goal.
• Reina vs. Dida: Pepe Reina has had some shaky moments for Liverpool, particularly earlier in the year, but compared to Dida, he's a model of consistency. He's become much more confident and dependable over the course of the season, and if the game comes down to penalties again, having Reina between the posts will be a massive advantage for Liverpool, after his performances in the semi-final and in the FA Cup final last year.

Injury news
Harry Kewell has apparently recovered from his long-standing injury problems just in time for Liverpool, so he may get the chance to limp off before halftime in yet another cup final. (It's okay, Harry, I still like you, especially now that you've chopped off that idiotic ponytail.) Bolo Zenden is a doubt, having knacked his ankle in training, which is probably bad news for Rafa but good news as far as I'm concerned.

For Milan, Paolo Maldini and his 138-year-old knees are expected to be fit enough to partner Alessandro Nesta in the centre of defence, although I suspect that he may not be able to last the full 90 minutes. Milan rested their entire first team for their Serie A game this weekend, so they should be fresh, but then Liverpool have essentially been resting for the past three weeks, judging by their performances against Fulham et al.

Team predictions
Attempting to predict Rafa's lineups is always a crapshot, but nevertheless...

• Milan: Dida; Oddo, Nesta, Maldini, Jankulovski; Pirlo, Gattuso; Ambrosini, Kaka, Seedorf; Inzaghi
• Liverpool: Reina; Finnan, Carragher, Agger, Arbeloa; Gerrard, Alonso, Mascherano, Riise; Crouch, Kuyt

I'm not even going to try to predict the outcome, and I'm trying not to be either too pessimistic or too optimistic here. That game in Istanbul is what made me fall in love with the team in the first place -- not really the fact that they won, but more the way that they won it. Liverpool never seem to do things the easy way, and I expect Athens to be another emotional rollercoaster.

Both teams have it all to play for at the San Siro, after a whirlwind first leg.

Milan lined up as expected, although with the terminally ineffective Gilardino instead of Inzaghi at the top of the Christmas tree. United were in the predicted 4-2-3-1, but with Wayne Rooney leading the line in place of Alan Smith. With Patrice Evra fit to start, Darren Fletcher moved into midfield, as the Gattuso to Michael Carrick's Pirlo. (I know, that sounds like a ridiculous comparison. And it's true that Carrick faded in and out of the game, but Fletcher -- although he didn't manage to stifle Kaka -- played his little cotton socks off, bless him.)

United got off to a good start, imposing lots of pressure on Milan -- and actually putting in some decent corners, something that shouldn't be notable but is. And it paid off with an early goal as Dida flapped at Cristiano Ronaldo's header from Giggs' corner, but managed only to push it into his own net. The first 15 minutes or so were all United, but Milan worked themselves into the game. United still looked dangerous when they got the chance to attack with speed, but Milan weren't panicking, just patiently shutting them down.

Milan's equalizer came from Kaka, who got away from Carrick; the defenders didn't close him down quickly enough, and he finished with a perfectly placed shot past Van der Sar. Fifteen minutes later it was Kaka again, controlling the ball well to slip past the defenders into the box. But United looked like the Keystone Kops out there -- Heinze was trying to catch Kaka, Evra came over to cover but body-checked his own player out of the way instead, leaving Kaka with a clear shot on goal.

Kaka easily won the battle of the young superstars between him and Ronaldo -- who was eager to run at the Milan defence and show off his tricks, but not so eager to actually pass the damned ball before two or three players closed him down and took it away. Wayne Rooney, though, made a case for himself with two beautifully taken goals that gave United the lead.

Milan had lost Paolo Maldini at halftime, but were still looking much the better side. Then, probably more detrimental, Gattuso went off injured not long afterwards, and that let United back into the game. Just when I was starting to think they should substitute Paul Scholes -- because he wasn't doing much other than lunging at people and practically begging to be booked -- he flipped the ball up over the Milan defence for Rooney chest down and slot past Dida. Rooney's second goal came in stoppage time, as Giggs broke from the halfway line and played a through ball for him to run on to, and he hammered it past Dida at the near post. It was a great finish but once again some dodgy keeping from Dida, who had made a couple of excellent saves but gave him way too much space to aim at here.

That third goal gives United a lifeline for the second leg, but I think the tie is still too close to call. Although United have the lead, Milan have those two away goals, which means a 1-0 victory at the San Siro would be enough to send them through. But they'll regret not killing United off when they had the chance -- they may have thought it was all over at 2-1, but then they took their foot off the gas and paid for it.

The issue for United in Italy will be patching up their defence again. Evra was booked on Tuesday, so he'll miss the next leg. They've got to hope that Ferdinand and/or Neville is back fit by then, or else start Fletcher at right-back. (On the other hand, it's not all bad, because it gives them an excuse to move Heinze back to the left; I'm really not comfortable with him in the centre.) They also could use at least one goal to increase the pressure on Milan. And they absolutely have to figure out how to deal with Kaka, although I have no suggestions for that other than maybe attaching lead weights to his ankles.

As for Milan, I think they shouldn't rely too much on the Brazilian choirboy -- they need to find goals from their strikers too, though that's not likely with Gilardino faffing around up front. And they also need to remember that games last 90 mintes, not 45. You'd think they would have learned that in Istanbul, but apparently not.

Steve McClaren has announced the squad for England's Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Andorra.

Goalkeepers: Robinson (Tottenham), Foster (Man Utd, on loan at Watford), Carson (Liverpool, on loan at Charlton).

Defenders: G Neville (Man Utd), Richards (Man City), Ferdinand (Man Utd), Terry (Chelsea, capt), Woodgate (Real Madrid, on loan at Middlesbrough), Carragher (Liverpool), A Cole (Chelsea), P Neville (Everton).

Midfielders: Gerrard (Liverpool), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), Lampard (Chelsea), Lennon (Tottenham), Parker (Newcastle), Carrick (Man Utd), Dyer (Newcastle), Downing (Middlesbrough).

Forwards: Johnson (Everton), Rooney (Man Utd), Defoe (Tottenham), Bent (Charlton).

Now he just has to wait to see who comes through this weekend's games unscathed.

But my big question is this: What does Gareth Barry have to do to earn himself a spot? Wayne Bridge is out injured and Ashley Cole is suspended against Israel, and still he's not even considered for left-back. Instead it's probably going to be Phil Neville, whose only apparent qualification for the job is his last name. And we all saw how well that worked against Spain.

Congratulations, Lille! You have been officially awarded the prestigious title of Pissy French Bitches 2007 (previous holders: Arsenal). They are now (a) blaming Man United for the over-crowding in the away end and (b) claiming that the game should be replayed because the referee let Giggs's goal stand. Both of which are bullshit.

Let's start with the free-kick. Yes, quite often the referee tells the teams that they have to wait for the whistle to restart play. He didn't do that this time. So when Lille spent too much time faffing around setting up their wall and Giggs took advantage of that, they have only themselves to blame. It's understandable that they feel hard done by, especially since they'd previously had a goal disallowed for a push on Vidic, but reacting as if they were going to take their ball and go home is needlessly petulant. It's the sort of behaviour I'd expect in my rec league (where, instead of referees, you call your own fouls and the teams award each other "spirit points" after the game; yeah, it works about as well as you'd expect), not from professional footballers.

As much attention as is being paid to this -- and when I finally saw the game, I was a little disappointed, because I was expecting a bigger kerfuffle -- the more serious issue is the trouble with the away fans. There are conflicting reports as to what exactly happened, but basically: there were too many fans in the away section of the stands, possibly because of people using fake tickets, possibly because of stadium staff not actually checking tickets and just letting people in. Some of those fans felt that they were in danger of being crushed and tried to climb out, and the security people dealt with this by spraying tear gas at the crowd. Which, as you can imagine, was a big help. The whole thing is just boggling to me. I mean, having to segregate away fans behind wire fences is boggling enough in the first place, considering that I'm used to North American stadiums where you can sit anywhere. I can accept that it's necessary in other places, but if you're going to do it, isn't the point to make it less dangerous for the fans, rather than more so?

Right, so: Massive organizational fuck-ups aside, what about the game? Well, United started brightly enough, with lots of possession, but not enough of it was in the final third of the pitch. Although they lined up in the 4-4-2 I was hoping for (hallelujah!), they were lacking the final ball to the strikers or players really driving forward from midfield. Lille did a good job of harrying them and closing down space in the midfield; I thought Jean Makoun was their best player and it's easy to see why United were interested in him. Gradually, though, it was looking as if the game would peter out into a scoreless draw, until Giggs stepped up to give United a crucial away goal. I hope they'll go all out to win the return leg at Old Trafford, because I thought a lot of their problem on Tuesday was due to their usual caution in European away games, despite the purportedly attacking formation.

I finally got around to watching the England-Spain game, and now I kind of wish I hadn't, because they were terrible. Spain weren't in top form either, but nevertheless they were the better team, largely because they demonstrated the ability to pass the ball more two or three times in a row without giving up possession.

I could talk about all the problems with the team at the moment -- inane tactics, strikers who can't score, the complete absence of left-footed players. But instead of dwelling on that, I'm trying to think about the things that actually went right:

1. Ben Foster looked solid in his international debut (in the "not sucking" sense, rather than just the "ate too many pies" sense that Paul Robinson usually does);

2. Steven Gerrard, also, did not entirely suck;

3. Jonathan Woodgate and Keiron Dyer made it through the game without any of their limbs spontaneously falling off;

4. No Jermaine Jenas;

and finally,

5. The worse Steve McClaren does as manager, the more likely it is that they'll sack him sooner rather than later.

Liverpool and Arsenal face off again tomorrow in their Carling Cup quarter-final match, which was postponed last month because of fog. The winner will go on to face Tottenham in the semis. After Arsenal's 3-1 win over the Reds in the FA Cup, I'm curious to see what strategy the two managers will take in terms of their lineup.

Will Arsene Wenger decide that the Gunners have already won the more important game and rest some of his senior players? Or will he want to compound Liverpool's misery by making it two in a row? Will Rafa Benitez accept that this is their only real chance at silverware this season and field a strong team? Or will it be a repeat of the gamesmanship from the Community Shield, where he deliberately left Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso on the bench?

(Whoever Rafa decides to put out there, let's just hope he reminds them to mark Rosicky this time.)

Then, on Wednesday, Chelsea take on Wycombe in the first of the semi-final matches, giving them another opportunity to beat up on some poor, defenceless* lower-league club like the playground bullies that they are increasingly resembling. But let's be fair: at least it might give Andriy Shevchenko some opposition that he can actually score against.

* The word "defenceless" could maybe be better applied to Chelsea, since with Carvalho, Terry and Boulahrouz all out, Jose Mourinho is thinking about starting Paolo Ferreira and Michael Essien at centre half. But that would imply that I have an iota of sympathy for them, which I don't.

Now that the hectic slate of Christmas fixtures in the Premiership is over, let's see who did well and who got a lump of coal in their stocking.

As you might've expected, Manchester United did the best out of any team over the course of the four matches from December 23 to January 2, coming away with 10 points out of a maximum 12. They've stretched their lead over Chelsea at the top of the table to six points, as the champions only managed one win and three draws over the same period.

Of the other teams fighting for Champions League places, Liverpool, Arsenal and Bolton all won three of their four games, so their positions have stayed relatively unchanged. The big upward movers, though, are Manchester City and Blackburn, who also took 9 points from 12 and have jumped up about five spots, to 10th and 11th respectively.

In contrast, Wigan had a dismal holiday period, as they didn't manage a single point from their three games (the match against Watford on December 30 was rained out). They've now won just once in their last 10 games and have plummeted down to 17th place in the table. Aston Villa have fallen off the pace too, picking up just one point from their draw against Chelsea yesterday, and are down to 13th.

At the bottom of the table, Watford, West Ham also gained just one point each. Watford were doing badly enough that this doesn't really make a difference for them, but the Hammers and their new manager, Alan Curbishley, will be disappointed not to have done better -- especially after that 6-0 drubbing by Reading on New Year's Day.

Curbishley's old club, Charlton, did slightly better, with a draw against Fulham and a win over Villa, but promptly fell apart again versus Arsenal yesterday and are still mired in the relegation zone. Tottenham also scraped together only four points, which doesn't really make a difference to their league position but means that they've let a gap open up between themselves and the teams ahead of them.

As for the rest of the clubs, they all picked up anywhere from three to seven points, but none of it really affected the standings so I won't bore you with the details. They may be disappointed not to have made up ground, but I think they're probably more relieved not to have slipped further. The exception to this, of course, is Chelsea. Because no matter how much Jose Mourinho claims he's happy with their position, I don't believe him.

It's that time of year: What New Year's resolutions should your team be making? I'll start with Manchester United:

Wayne Rooney - Keep your cleats far, far away from anyone else's delicate bits.

Cristiano Ronaldo - Don't wink at people.

Paul Scholes - Try to tackle people without getting booked every. single. time.

Rio Ferdinand - Stay awake for the entire 90 minutes of every game.

Kieran Richardson - Stop being generally useless.

John O'Shea - Ditto.

Michael Carrick - Learn to pass the ball forwards once in a while.

Gary Neville - Shave off that sad attempt at facial hair.

Sir Alex - Quit mucking around with 4-5-1, because it clearly doesn't work. Also, buy a proper defensive midfielder.

And for the team as a whole - Stop switching off in games that are supposed to be easy (see: Reading, Copenhagen, Southend...I could go on).

So much for my prediction that Barcelona would win. Maybe I jinxed them?

Barcelona started calmly, passing the ball around the way you know they always do, but Inter had a few decent early chances, and the first corner of the game fell to them. (Although they only had two in the whole match, versus Barca's 11 -- all of which were wasted in Arsenal-esque fashion.)

The Catalans then had a couple of decent shouts for a penalty, as first Eidur Gudjohnsen and then a minute later Ronaldinho were taken down in the box, but they got nothing from the ref.

Barcelona also had several good chances to score, for Gudjohnsen, Deco and Ronaldinho. Perhaps the best one came with a free kick on the edge of the box, which Ronaldinho sent low through the wall (I wonder if he was trying the same thing as he did against Werder Bremen), but it was easily saved by the keeper.

It was scoreless at halftime, as Internacional brought Fabian Vargas on for Alex, while for Barcelona Belleti replaced Gianluca Zambrotta, who'd picked up an injury at the end of the first half. I think this might have hurt Barça in the second half, because some of their most effective moves had been coming from Zambrotta bombing down the right wing in support of Ludivic Giuly, while Inter tried to stifle Ronaldinho on the left.

Barcelona had several more good chances, though -- trying to develop their play through the midfield, while Inter sat back and waited for a chance to break with a long ball or a diagonal pass out to the wings. From the 75th minute on, most of the pressure was coming from Barça -- perhaps realizing that they didn't want this to go to extra time.

But it was Internacional who eventually broke the deadlock. With Carles Puyoly backing off him, Iarley played Adriano through with only Marquez to beat. He skipped past the tackle and slotted the ball home. Cue the Inter bench erupting and a herd of players in neon orange jackets stampeding onto the field.

Then it was just a question of Inter protecting their lead for the last five minutes, although they didn't seem all that inclined to just sit back and soak up the pressure. First Deco almost equalized with another of his trademark shots from 30 yards out, but Clemer just got a hand to it, and then Ronaldinho was knocked over in the D to win a free kick in a dangerous position, which he curled barely inches wide.

Overall, it was a much more even game than I expected, and I suppose that Internacional deserved the win as much as anyone. Certainly Frank Rijkaard seemed to spend his whole post-match press conference talking about how Inter were so much better prepared and whatnot. (I've decided that's his whole role as a manager: being deprecating about the team in interviews. That and pacing around in front of the bench looking pensive. It's a tough job, really -- especially when you've got hair like that.)

And finally, some notes on a few of the other key figures tonight:

The fans
The other bloggers have already commented on this, but although the Barcelona fans definitely outnumbered the Internacional contingent, there were only one or two pockets of them that were actually making some noise. I suspect those were the travelling supporters rather than the local ones -- the rest of the crowd mostly restrained themselves to booing vociferously every time Ronaldinho was tackled or an Inter player went down injured. I was disappointed that there wasn't a bigger group of Inter fans, because the ones that I saw were all completely mental, and I think that would've improved the atmosphere a lot. (I was also disappointed that they didn't try to invade the pitch at the end of the game, but that's another story.)

Ronaldinho
Ronaldinho had quite a few good moments in the first half, but nothing to show for it. It seemed to me that he was trying to be too tricky -- maybe playing to the fans like he did in the semi-final -- rather than trying to just play. And he sort of vanished in the second half, as Inter got better at shutting him down.

Pato
Pato didn't look intimidated by the game, considering that this was only his third professional match. He was more than willing to shoot every chance he got -- although some of those chances, I think he would've been better to pass instead. There were also a few sloppy touches on the ball that looked to me like they came from a combination of inexperience and overconfidence. All in all, he wasn't as effective tonight, and it wasn't a complete surprised when he was subbed off in the 60th minute. I suppose you could say that the Duck had his wings clipped.

(Also, it has just occurred to me that his yellow boots sort of look like a duck's feet. I wonder if he does that on purpose.)