United started with a fairly strong line-up, the strongest they could anyway. With Carrick sent off in the first leg, Sir Alex went with Park in the middle, while Nani and Valencia would use their pace down the flanks.

AC Milan would regret not starting Beckham. Leonardo bought into the Beckham hype in the first leg and decided to start him. He would make the same mistake in the second leg, by not starting him.

It only took United 3 minutes to look dangerous as Rooney received a great pass from Valencia and fired on Abbiati, but it went wide

It didn’t take long for Milan to respond as Ronaldinho, who has been on fire, almost scored a spectacular goal in the 8th minute. It was a deflected ball from Nani, Ronaldinho was already in the air and managed to give it some direction, that is something that is very difficult to do. Most players would have just let the ball hit their head.

Park did not give Pirlo an inch. The South Korean was obviously instructed to shadow the Italian playmaker.

Rooney scored his third header on Milan in the 14th minute.For the second time Milan would gave Neville too much space, the first time Neville took a left footed shot that just went over the cross bar. The second time he delivered a wonderful ball to Rooney who did not forgive Milan for poor defending.

After the goal, the game really slowed down. AC Milan was not creating anything, and Manchester United set the tempo. It was AC Milan’s game to chase, and United knew that.

The half would end 1-0.

Milan made one change and it would take United 2 minutes to expose the weakness. A defender ,Bonera, was taken off for a midfielder, Seedorf. With 3 defenders you don’t leave yourself with much room for error. Nani would capitalize on a poor trap from Thiago Silva, and Rooney would loose Flamini, who was caught ball watching. Nani fed a great ball into rooney who was completely unmarked and put away a one v one against Abbiati for the 2nd goal.

Although going down 2-0, Milan looked more alive when Seedorf stepped on the pitch. Ronaldinho needed a partner. It is usually Pato up top he connects with, but with the young brazilian out for the match, Ronaldinho needed someone to play with.

Well if there was any glimpse of hope for the Milan fans, they were clearly shattered as Park put united up 3-0 before the hour mark! Another goal due to poor defending, Scholes exposed the gap and found Park with a brilliant through ball and Park would convert.

Beckham finally made his way on to the pitch shortly after, to a very warm welcome. “Welcome home Beckham” signs decorated Old Trafford.

It was poor managing from Leonardo to not start Ronaldinho, Seedorf and Beckham as it was clear that those three were the ones creating chances. Huntelaar was nowhere to be found, Boriello did absolutely nothing. It took Leonardo too long to make the changes and it cost him the match and maybe even his job.

Rooney and Neville would receive a standing ovation as Berbatov and Rafael would make an appearance and Gibson would come on for Scholes, who was booked earlier in the match.

Beckham hit a rocket at Van der Sar in the 74th minute. Clearly frustrated because Leonardo decided to play him when it was pointless, a lost cause as Milan were down 3-0.

If you thought 3 was humiliating; Rafael and Fletcher would connect for the 4th just before the 90th minute. Milan’s defense was lost. Pirlo was the player closest to Fletcher at the time of the center. Thiago Silva the left defender was about 15 yards from his position and it cost Milan the 4th and final goal.

Coaching experience was they key in this 4-0 defeat. Leonardo simply doesn’t have the experience to take Milan to the next level.

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