FOOTBALL: AC MILAN VS. LIVERPOOL

This is probably the last biggest football match for this season. The season is almost ending and we have a long mid year break. We will be bored to death with no football until July/August. This is surely a sad time of the year for all football fans.

Now, let us focus on the Champions League final! I think the best way to compare the teams are the different departments.

OFFENCE
Shevchenko, Inzaghi, Tomasson, Crespo VS. Baros, Cisse, Mellor, Pongolle, Morientes

Crespo may not make it to the final and definitely Morientes too. Let's have a top 5 goal count of all competitions for both teams this season.

AC MILAN
1. Shevchenko 20
2. Crespo 14
3. Kaka 9
4. Tomasson 7
5. Seedorf 6

LIVERPOOL
1. Baros 13
2. Garcia 13
3. Gerrard 12
4. Riise 8
5. Cisse 5

As you can see, both teams are having almost the same goal scoring record this season. AC Milan have an older squad generally and so are their offence. They will have the edge of experience. Liverpool will have the edge of speed. I have never seen Cisse playing in French league before but to me, he is an over-rated striker. He has not convinced me whole season with his lousy striking ability in front of goal. Baros will be the best striker in Liverpool to lead the attack. However, with so many rumours of him leaving Liverpool next season, people are saying that he may not even start. That to me will be a disadvantage.

MIDFIELD
Gattuso, Pirlo, Kaka, Seedorf, Rui Costa, Serginho VS. Gerrard, Alonso, Garcia, Finnan, Riise, Smicer, Kewell, Biscan, Hamann

This department seems pretty balance for both. Liverpool have their star in Gerrard while Milan have the reliable Kaka. It will be interesting to see how the midfielders of both fight it out for possessions and passings. The clash will be very interesting!

DEFENCE
Maldini, Nesta, Stam, Cafu, Pancaro, Simic, Costacurta, Rodrigo, Abbiati, Kaladze VS. Carragher, Hyypia, Traore, Josemi, Pellegrino, Welsh, Otsemobor

Surely, looking at both collection of players available, you have to say Milan have a better defending squad both in terms of experience and quality with Maldini, Nesta, Stam and Cafu. However, the only good news for Liverpool is that their defence is pretty old and that means slow. It will be one of the best advantages for the Liverpool offence if they can make full use of their speed. Liverpool though have Carragher and Hyypia who have been very convincing this season in the middle. Thus, Milan may have to attack through the wings to have a better chance to penetrate into the defence.

GOALIES
Dida VS. Dudek
Let's have a simple comparison of the conceded goals in the league. Milan conceded 27 goals out of 37 matches while Liverpool conceded 41 goals out of 38 matches. This may not be a true measurement of the abilities of the goalies especially in the Champions League but it will roughly show the performance of both for the whole season. Dida has always been very reliable to Milan, never to give away easy goals for the opponents. Dudek however can be so inconsistent that he can give away very simple goals in big matches. This will surely be Liverpool's weakness. He must perform to his best for this final and not regret his entire life for it.

DECISIVE PLAYERS
Gerrard will definitely be one of the players who can determine a game for Liverpool. He must get his midseason form back to be able to do that. Alonso and Garcia have brought in the great dribblings and passings that are dangerous and decisive to the forwards. They are great to watch when the play to their abilities.

Shevchenko has been Milan's saviour whole season. He is the sort of player who can perform in the highest level and decide results. I would love to see the Kaka of last season again, I hope he will show his stuff too to make the final a great one. Crespo is the player to watch, he has been quite effective in front of goal for Milan this season. I won't be surprised if he scores in front of goal.

FINAL WORDS
Surely Milan will be the favourites with experience and quality in their squad. Liverpool have quality too but not the experience. Liverpool may be also short of firepower too but have enough midfield support to push through. Whatever the outcome, we will surely ask for an explosive final match with plenty of goals and not to repeat the FA Cup final! Anything can happen. Underdogs Liverpool may be, a slight moment of genius is all that is needed to determine the champions. However, they must also know the greatness of Milan. It is not easy to win but everything is possible.

XBOX PLAY
In my university, Microsoft promotes the XBox by having 4 of the machines available in campus to play. I played the Winning Eleven 8 this morning. I played 3 games of AC Mlian Vs. Liverpool. I took AC Milan.

1st game: AC Milan 1-0 Liverpool
Pirlo scored from a free kick

2nd game: AC Milan 2-2 Liverpool (Liverpool won penalty shootout)
Forgot who are the scorers but I think Kaka and Shevchenko scored for Milan. In the penalty shootout, Milan lost! Haha! I admit I cannot handle the controls well.

3rd game: AC Milan 1-0 Liverpool
Shevchenko scored from open play, a pass from Kaka

Tonight? Who will win? What is the scoreline? Haha! Nobody knows! Hope it will be an exciting high scoring match! I wish Liverpool can win this one but it won't be easy!