CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Talking tactics

It was a battle of wits between Carlo Ancelotti and Rafa Benitez again in Athens. But, as Giancarlo Rinaldi explains, the shrewd Italian came out on top

Sometimes your tactical plan can work to perfection and you still end up losing a game. A couple of moments of brilliance from a superb striker spoiled the night for Rafa Benitez. His nightmares will be filled with the face of Pippo Inzaghi. Everything looked to be going according to a Spanish script. Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano and company had shackled the midfield, while Milan struggled to produce the kind of play they had shown against Manchester United. Every time Andrea Pirlo, Massimo Ambrosini or Clarence Seedorf got the ball they had somebody snapping at their heels. The Rossoneri looked hesitant and unable to produce their usual flowing play.

LIVERPOOL v ITALIAN CLUBS After losing out to Milan in this term’s Champions League Final, Liverpool’s record against Italian clubs in the finale of Europe’s premier club competition doesn’t look quite so impressive

Michel Platini celebrates with the trophy on the only other occasion Liverpool have lost a European Cup Final

May 25, 2005 – Atatüürk Olimpiyat, Istanbul Milan 3-3 aet Liverpool Maldini 1 Gerrard 54 Crespo 39, 44 Smicer 56 (65,000) Xabi Alonso 60 (Liverpool win 3-2 on pens) Milan: Serginho (m), Pirlo (m), Tomasson (s), Kaka (s), Shevchenko (m) Liverpool: Hamann (s), Cisse’ (s), Riise (m), Smicer (s) Milan: Dida; Cafu, Stam, Nesta, Maldini; Gattuso (Rui Costa 112), Pirlo, Seedorf (Serginho 85); Kaka; Crespo (Tomasson 85), Shevchenko Liverpool: Dudek; Finnan (Hamann 46), Carragher, Hyypia, Traore; Luis Garcia, Gerrard, Xabi Alonso, Riise, Kewell (Smicer 23); Baros (Cisse’ 85) Ref: Mejuto Gonzalez (Spa)

May 29, 1985 – Heysel Stadium, Brussels Juventus 1-0 Liverpool Platini pen 58 (58,000) Juventus: Tacconi; Favero, Brio, Scirea, Cabrini; Bonini, Platini, Tardelli; Briaschi (Prandelli 84), Rossi (Vignola 89), Boniek Liverpool: Grobbelaar; Neal, Hansen, Lawrenson (Gillespie 4), Beglin; Nicol, Dalglish, Wark, Whelan; Walsh (Johnston 46), Rush Ref: Daina (Swi)

May 30, 1984 – Stadio Olimpico, Rome Liverpool 1-1 aet Roma Neal 15 Pruzzo 38 Ref: Fredriksson (Swe) (69,693) (Liverpool win 4-2 on pens) Roma: Di Bartolomei (s), Conti (m), Righetti (s), Graziani (m) Liverpool: Nicol (m), Neal (s), Souness (s), Rush (s), Kennedy (s) Liverpool: Grobbelaar; Neal, Lawrenson, Hansen, Kennedy; Johnston (Nicol 72), Lee, Souness, Whelan; Dalglish (Robinson 94), Rush Roma: Tancredi; Nappi, Bonetti, Righetti, Nela; Conti, Di Bartolomei, Cerezo (Strukelj 115), Falcãão; Pruzzo (Chierico 64), Graziani

Carlo Ancelotti won the tactical battle with Rafa Benitez, but it could have been different if Liverpool had taken their chances

However, that was also the kind of game that Carlo Ancelotti was expecting. He said so before the match got under way and he repeated it afterwards. Liverpool, he reasoned, were not a side which let you express yourself and you might have to rely on a few moments of magic. This, perhaps, was Carletto’s masterstroke. First, he played Inzaghi from the start – apparently against the wishes of President Silvio Berlusconi who’d championed Alberto Gilardino. Secondly, he kept him on when he must have been tempted to replace him. Ancelotti was rewarded with a pair of strikes which were pure SuperPippo. The first a deflection off his shoulder, the second a run timed to perfection to beat the offside trap. Once the English side slipped behind, a few limitations in Benitez’s approach did start to appear. A team set up to frustrate the opposition proved unable to seize the initiative. The introduction of Harry Kewell made little impact, Peter Crouch failed to make the attack more incisive and the arrival of Alvaro Arbeloa was incomprehensible. Unlike in Istanbul, there was no thunderous reaction to finding themselves trailing to Milan. There was more success among the changes made by Ancelotti – or the lack of them. He must have been tempted to substitute Inzaghi, but he kept the faith. It would have been easy to replace Gattuso as he walked a yellow-card tightrope, but he held firm. The only man he brought on who had time to make an impression, Kakha Kaladze, did a solid job indeed. It was as the game unfolded that the Liverpool Coach seemed unable to alter its course. His team saw plenty of the ball and was able to break up the play with amazing regularity, but produced few genuine chances. The team worked hard, but lacked a real cutting edge which Benitez was unable to help them find. His reputation as a great Champions League tactician remained intact but it lost just a little bit of its lustre. His opposite number might finally start to get a tad more credit for what is, after all, starting to look a pretty impressive European record having reached three Champions League Finals, winning a couple of them. Taking his team right through from the preliminary stages this time around should have earned him a bit of respect. And anyone who can keep Silvio Berlusconi happy must surely have something going for him.

14 Calcio Italia June 2007