In the end, the class and experience of Milan paid off. Liverpool set out to mirror Milan's formation, but couldn't copy or cope with the likes of
Inzaghi, Nesta, and Gattusso. Milan were patient and composed. And unlike the isolated
Dirk Kuyt, when Milan broke forward, Inzaghi had
Kaka, and often Seedorf, in close support. Pennant was lively on the right and had the beating of Jankolovski (sp?) early, but his only options were deep crosses to late-arriving players on the edge of the box. Kuyt as I said was isolated, and doesn't have the stature to hold up the ball against the likes of Nesta who had Kuyt in his pocket all night, when Kuyt wasn't fouling him. Which was all too often. Meanwhile Inzaghi played his game -- an ugly vision of football where he tugs your shirt, falls over, and begs for the foul -- and on three occassions he split the defenders and was in on net alone. And twice he scored, albeit once when
Pirlo's free kick bounced off his arm. But credit him for being unmarked in front of goal. You just can't do that because bad things will happen.
As hard as it is to like Inzaghi, it is hard not to like
Paolo Maldini or Kaka. They play (and in Maldini's case have been playing for 22 years) with such style and grace. The moment of the match that we're all likely to remember is Kaka's drag-back-and-spin-away in midfield that flummoxed Mascherano and about three other covering Liverpool defenders.
There are lots of other talking points -- the substitutions made and not made, Gerrard's largely anonymous night and the chances had but didn't take, Daniel Agger's tattoo collection, etc -- but for now it's 5-4 to Milan on aggregate and I'm looking forward to the rubber match.
UPDATE: After watching the video, it's Riise who flies by when Kaka puts on the brakes. And Mascherano does a great job of staying with the play and winning the tackle. Still pretty.
