Champions League Winner 2006/7

[Rob the I ty]

True they usually do hit a wall around the hour mark, but Milan are well rested for this game. If Liverpool play like they did vs Barca it will be very tough for Milan but I expect Milan to control the midfield and grab a 1-0 or 2-0 win.

[mihai006]

Milan will won this year, maybe at penalties also. Liverpool is a beautiful team, but not so strong to win 2 time in 3 years... Milan is very strong, see the games with Manchester, and I suppose the luck will be this time on his side
Look on my site for others daily picks, is free

[Carl]

Can Liverpool do 'The Italian Job'?

The game will be fought and lost in midfield and out of the 4 remaining clubs that were left at the semi-final position AC-Milan were playing the better football knocking out treble hunting Manchester United.
Liverpool need to put the brakes on Gattuso and Kaka if they are to have any hope in re-living the dream of 2005.
A second string AC Milan side lost 3-2 at home to Udinese on Saturday when the whole first team took a rest ahead of Wednesday's game.
He did not field a single player who is expected to be in the starting line-up in Athens on Wednesday, sadly I don't think the Italians will 'lose' this final again and will make Liverpool pay for that night in Istanbul.




4-2 To AC Milan

Bet 10pts on Over 2.5 goals @ 2.40 with Bet365 &

5pts on Kaka to Score First @ 8.00 paddypower, Bet365 etc

[Nade]

Inter Milan?...

[Carl]

Originally Posted by Nade

Inter Milan?...

way too much to drink last night

[gerrie26681]

Liverpool will win the Champions LEague in my opinion. A lot of people believe that Liverpool are a poor side, I dont quite know why. I am a Liverpool supporter and I am not blind to their failings. They have an excellent shot stopper in Reina, a very very solid back four, and a very strong midfield. It is upfront they are weak, Crouch is very poor in my opinion. I hope Kuyt and Bellamy start upfront on Wednesday.

Milan are an old team, Nesta is world class no doubt but I have question marks over both fullbacks, Oddo and Jankulovski. Midfield is Milan's massive strenght. Kaka, Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf and Ambrosini. I hope that Gilardino starts ahead of Inzaghi.

Benitez is a tactical genius and he will have the troops well preped for this match. Mascherano will not afford Kaka the room and space that Fergie allowed. Mascherano is also 5times the player Carrick is. Liverpool are much much better equipped to beat Milan that Man Utd were.

At odds to win the cup of 2.42 available I will be backing Liverpool on Wednesday. The team is better than 2005, better organised, more belief. Not over confidence just believe that Liverpool can take Milan. So long as they settle quickly in the first 15mins and dont concede I think we'll be celebrating come 10pm!!! Fingers crossed!

[fenlandtiger]

I can't make a convincing case on the HW/AW/D.

I've seen Liverpool contain teams very well this season but also seen Milan pick apart Man Utd in the semi's (i've not watched any of Milan's other games though I hear they've not been too special of late). Which for me, makes the game pretty unpredictable pre-match. If Liverpool can cope with Kaka, Gatusso and Pirlo, and have their long and medium range sharp shooters on good shooting form, I think they have a decent chance. Also if they may pull a Bellamy and Crouch/Kuyt combo off, another avenue for scoring for them.

On the other hand, Milan scoring against Man Utd is still in my head, and Kaka in my view is a world talent on a par with Ronaldo. I think the Liverpool defence may have to play out of their skins to cope.

Liverpool could benefit from containing Gatusso as well.. If they contain the man who seems to be the standard bearer for Milan, then the match is made that little bit more winnable for Liverpool. Also I think he may be vulnerable to bookings as he seems so fired up in these games, reminiscent of Maradona in 94.

Former Liverpool European cup winning defender and BBC pundit Alan Hansen, on the BBC website, ends his Champions league piece with a classic piece of football bravado.

"Liverpool are going to win the Champions League final - I am absolutely 100% confident of that."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...em/6676849.stm

I don't think many punters here would agree with that! Imagine the odds you could get on Milan if Bookies were so 100% sure as Mr Hansen that Liverpool would win. I wish Alan Hansen was my bookie on Wednesday!

My own view is that Milan are probably favourites on merit, and therefore might be expected to win this game. But for me this is a one off, and I prefer to wait and see how the game unfolds on the night.

[Jonesy Knows]

Liverpool v AC Milan - Champions League Final 23 May 2007 Athens

A lot to live up to in this game after the best final ever 2 years ago.
You can really see this game going all the way again to penalties...

I think the important factor here is going to be the attitude of both teams, certainly this time around Liverpool won't make the fatal mistake like they did last time around and not start with a holding midfielder! as Kaka destroyed us in the first half. Liverpool will utilise Mascherano on Kaka and stop him orchestrating the AC Milan attack in this game. Though my fears here are that Liverpool will put Gerrard again wide on the right which is only making Milan's job easier in nulifying him as they will starve his supply chain and render him ineffective. The problem in that is that I fear Benitez will only see this too late in the game and then decide to switch him! Liverpool need to get the best out of Gerrard from the 1st whistle and my ideal role for him would be in the hole between attack and midfield and give him a licence to roam! This would then see Gattuso being dragged all over the place and not being able to provide the cover for Kaka, Milan's match winner!
Liverpool have the capabilities here to stop Milan in playing their freeflowing football that destroyed Man Utd, however much will depend on where Gerrard is deployed as this will map the tactics for both teams in the game!
Gerrard is the best midfield player in the world at the moment - nobody has the abilities of Gerrard, all in their locker like him, you can argue all you like about this, but it is plain to see from attacking to defending to his distribution to his passion he has it all and he I think is the catalyst for the outcome of this game...
I am not going to make a prediction here on who will win - I just want to see another great final and all the fans and authorities to behave themselves, if that is not too much to ask...

[Jonesy Knows]

"Ooops, almost forgot - COME ON YOU REDS"!

[Jonesy Knows]

"Oh what the hell" !!!

I gotta have a little interest bet as odds are unbelievable!

Xabi Alonso - 1st Goal Scorer - 25/1 Ladbrokes (on coupon in their shops!)

I mean 25/1 !!! are they mad? your talking about a player who can score goals from his defending half (aka Luton & Newcastle games)


P.s. - that was my 500th post! let's hope it's a lucky one

[nastro 1888]

draw - milan @ 9/2

[Nortico]

Milan - Liverpool = 1 (my guess)

The match of this year !!
To the question of who is winning, my bet is on Milan. Their form in the last CHL-matches is very good, and if we look at the way they played in their last match against United. I would say Milan defenitely.
And now when we look at the odds at the bookies, then i would say :

2.36 hos betfair.com
2.35 hos expekt.com
2.37 hos bet365.com
2.25 hos sportingbet.com
2.00 hos bwin.com
2.40 hos nordicbet.com
2.35 hos pokersaints.com
2.25 hos tipstjenesten
2.35 hos Unibet.com

What do they think of at Bwin.com ???? They must really be afraid of loosing lot of money on wednesday.
My recommendation is to put an eye on betfair.com. the odds their is rising more and more..

Good match ! :-)

[liverpoolfan]

liverpool to win ,draw after 90 mins extra time goal .........126mins

[drawback05]

have read through some of the above and they are the usual mix of sense and nonsense.
two points i would argue against are the following
1. Draw - Milan double bet Milan are an ageing side and will need to be out of the blocks early as they will tire in the second half. I hope Milan score early because that should bring the negative Liverpool side (if you are a Liverpool fan please put in the words 'tactically astute' to replace negative there !!) out of their shell. Milan - Draw would be more value
2. Steven Gerrard is the best midfielder in the world Please spare me this unadulterated drivel, as it is patently untrue. I haven't him seen him drive his team to anything in the last few seasons (I believe that Dietmar Hamann won them this tournament 2 years ago) Gerrard is over-rated and in fact over-the-top in his tackling too, a bad side I don't admire. Picking a world best 11 I would not be picking Steven Gerrard as my first choice midfielder, with at least 2 of Milan's players ahead of him in my opinion.
now the verdict. Liverpool are over-priced at 6/5 to win the trophy as they have the best CL manager by miles. Benitez has out-thought both Barcelona and Chelsea this season, and knows Milan's game plan. Just because of how they play I want the flair of Milan to triumph with goals from Kaka and Seedorf, but if I had to have a bet with all my bank account, Liverpool to lift the trophy is a value bet. In reality I may just watch as this really is going to be very close, and not one to have your life savings on.
Milan 2-1 Liverpool Kaka, Seedorf, Crouch
mugs bet Kuyt to score as he hasn't scored in Europe all season and the bookies won't offer bigger than 2/1 I'd say.

[Youssef]

Originally Posted by gerrie26681

Crouch is very poor in my opinion. I hope Kuyt and Bellamy start upfront on Wednesday.

You must be joking! Crouch is poor, but he's a good header. Bellamy has been poor everywhere of late.

I think Crouchy will have a decent chance of scoring with his head if the crosses were done with enough precision. In fact, I'm counting on him to score in the final.

[AK1979]

Steven Gerrard is the best midfielder in the world Please spare me this unadulterated drivel, as it is patently untrue. I haven't him seen him drive his team to anything in the last few seasons

I wholeheartedly disagree with that statement. I dont believe Liverpool would have won the Champions League or last years FA Cup Final without Gerrard on the pitch.

I will agree with you that he gets away with murder with some of his tackles though but thats a debate for another day.

The best midfielder in the country for me but its all about opinions I suppose!

[kevshat]

Originally Posted by drawback05

2. Steven Gerrard is the best midfielder in the world Please spare me this unadulterated drivel, as it is patently untrue. I haven't him seen him drive his team to anything in the last few seasons (I believe that Dietmar Hamann won them this tournament 2 years ago)

How in gods name did you work that out .

Had it not been for Gerrard's injury time 3rd against Olympiakos, Liverpool wouldn't have gone beyond the group stage and it was Gerrard who started the revival with the header to score the 1st in the final and of course Gerrard who was fouled on one of his driving runs into the box for the penalty of which the equaliser came from. If Dietmar Hamann won them that tournament so did I

[davidmphill]

I think someones trying to wind things up. There's no doubting Gerrards ability to change a match, when he's on song there aren't many who can match him on the pitch. He's that influential you'd build your side around him.

[drawback05]

oo-er, apologies. i was not trying to wind anyone up but genuinely do not believe that Gerrard is THE BEST MIDFIELDER IN THE WORLD as was stated previously. Allow me to admit that I am clearly in a minority here, and say again it was not an intended wind-up.
I will say this though. I will eat a large dose of humble pie if Stevie G proves a match-winner tomorrow night.
In my small defence, seeing as people have thrown up some of his higher points I offer this slight retort. 90th minute England 1-1 France. The best player in the world would not have done what happened next. Please take it easy on me now with the replies - I'm only small !
I will come back with my bib tucked in tomorrow if I'm wrong.

[kevshat]

Originally Posted by drawback05

oo-er, apologies. i was not trying to wind anyone up but genuinely do not believe that Gerrard is THE BEST MIDFIELDER IN THE WORLD as was stated previously. Allow me to admit that I am clearly in a minority here, and say again it was not an intended wind-up.
I will say this though. I will eat a large dose of humble pie if Stevie G proves a match-winner tomorrow night.
In my small defence, seeing as people have thrown up some of his higher points I offer this slight retort. 90th minute England 1-1 France. The best player in the world would not have done what happened next. Please take it easy on me now with the replies - I'm only small !
I will come back with my bib tucked in tomorrow if I'm wrong.

I think it's fair to say the good things he done in games far outweigh mistakes he's made. I don't necessarily think he's the best midfielder in the world either as it goes but he's in the top 3 without a doubt.