All this talk about Milan were tired bla bla bla, In Italy they had a WINTER BREAK, while in England they never stop playing so that excuse is wrong. Arsenal are also challenging for a Premier League title. They also made it to the semi of the Carling Cup and the last 16 of the FA Cup all these fixtures add up while Milan were able to rest before this game because they are not challenging for the title in Italy. Last season when Man United were beaten everybody was saying that they were outclassed yet they were tired and missing key players like Evra, Vidic, Neville and Carrick. While Milan again were only concentrating on the Champions League. So every real football fan will know Arsenal outclassed Milan even though they were missing Van Persie, Rosicky and Toure.

I admit, Milan are not on form this season. It just seems like everything out of order.

i have not seen anybody suggest Milan's 'tiredness' was the reason for the result.

anybody else care to elaborate?

Oddo was Milan's best player over two legs for me.

Kaká showed a few moments of inspiration when Flamini was sorting out somebody else, but when Flamini was tracking him, Kaká might as well have been on a completely different pitch.

Pato was useless as well. Even when he was given a glorious chance he spooned it. He was worse than Eboué and gave Senderos no real problems. Inzaghi looked the only real threat, early on he made some good runs and a few sneaky shots on target but that threat was soon nullified by our Defence.

As Johaldo said, all the work was done in the middle of the park. Cesc and Flamini bossed the game and gave Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini, Seedorf (first leg) and Kaká a massive test. Their Defence was excellent for long spells over both games. Despite our dominance in Midfield, we rarely tested Kalac much because the Milan Defence was just full of experience and knowledge, Adebayor couldn't break them down on his own. But we came through in the end. Fantastic result.

I hope we get Man Utd in the next round.

probably last year's milan could have beat Arsenal, because they run, run, run, run, they had a lot of chances but the had difficulties to score, against a milan that I never saw playing so bad
its funny when I see that in the last 4 years the champions of europe had been kicked off before quarter finals (porto,Liverpool,barcellona,milan)
probably that yokohama travel in the middle of the season its not good for the players
congratulations to Arsenal thought

oh yeah, probably only english teams outclass other teams, and when english teams looooose is always because they were tired.
english teams are invincible , the only weak part is that they get tired often when they have to win a Champions League, so they lose , but only because they were tired, it has to be clear

Axey, you have to consider the fact that (even though i hate to admit it) Milan is old. And travel can actually affect the elderly (man I feel so ashamed calling my team elderly). Plus counter that with Arsenal youngsters, pressures from Serie A, fan pressure, owner pressure, manager pressure, morale pressure and you have a nice little obstacle created.

As for Pato, he was and is useless. Not to take away anything from the kid but he just has his youth and can run that's about it.

BTW nice avatar

Even though I hate to see my current players leave, I feel that next season they will be doing a major overhaul to the team and putting mostly new players in.

about time. Milan are an embarrassment. I said years ago they need to sort out th team.

ah.. i think it's too early.. shall we meet you in the final round?.. lol..

i'd love my team to meet roma again.. compared to any english teams..XD

Arsenal in Final round is not possible at all.

it's just a simple compliment for their beating the cup holder.. don't you think they're capable of surviving till final round?..

For sure they need to bring in alot of players. Too old.

Real Madrid brought alot of young players in, in the summer. I believe Milan need to do the same.

Yep, over the last year or so Real have bought in many very good young players.

There's Higuain, Gago, Marcelo, Drenthe who are all very young, then there's Pepe, Sneijder, Robben who are quite young.

I dont even think they have to bring invery young players, just good quality players who arent old.

There are rumours Milan are intrested ina player like Berbatov, who i hate to admit could be excellent in Italy. He will have more space on the ball, and they keep the ball for longer periods of time, and when you watch Tottenham games Dimitar gets very annoyed when we give the ball away cheaply.

Think Drogba will end up there though.

They need pace in defence. I think there defence is way too old and they need to bring in younger quality players. Maybe someone like, Kompany could be excellent there.

Now you should go to jail for saying such an idiot thing. But I wish from bottom of my heart that every milanista thought that way, including the board, and then they wud get rid of him

The whole Milan Defence were superb over both legs. Maldini was tireless until the last minute of the second tie and produced some expert defending and some of Milan's most promising attacks down the wing. Nesta defended expertly and Oddo was one of their best players - he did more things right than Kaká over two legs anyway.

31 years old is a good age for a Defender - particularly well conditioned athletes of that class from that Country. It's not "too old".

Gattuso is the age most great Defensive Midfielders peak at. Pirlo is only 28 and probably one of the best passers in the World. Kaká is probably the best he's ever been and Pato is as fresh as a spring onion. Inzaghi is an age, but he's an expert poacher when necessary. His goals in the Champions League last season show how he doesn't even need match fitness, just the right pass or bounce.

I do think they could use a few fresher legs in the Midfield. As good as Pirlo is at 28, he doesn't control Midfields. But Ambrosini and Seedorf are also neither "finished" or in real need of replacement. It says much when guys like Gourcuff, Emerson & Bonera can't get on.

They've been lacking in the attacking department in this season and from all the performances I've seen of them in the Serie A, they lack a real goalscorer. They dominate sides regularly and pin them back for long spells yet just can't find the source of goals to kill off teams. In saying that, they reached the KO stage of the ECL and currently sit 4th in the Serie A.

For Milans style of play, the team they have is ideal. They only really depend on one or 2 players to have blistering pace (ie Kaka or Pato) so when teams are pressing them, Pirlo picks out a 50/60 yard pass into space and watch the pacey boys get onto it

That's it. And they defend expertly. We really struggled to break them down and sometimes we got into great positions only to be immediately blocked by some World-class tackles from the likes of Nesta.

Cesc's goal had to come from long range. Adebayor's goal was a counter-attack when the game was already won.

They defended superbly and to claim they're "too old", "need replaced", "were too tired" or were in anyway poor or [beep!] is wrong. They were strong and were very calm & experienced with everything they did in the first tie despite our excellent performance. And in the second tie their attacking game looked impressive early on when Inzaghi, Kaká and Pato had some chances that were as good as any of ours in the first half. Pato's chance was probably the best chance of the first half and it was expertly created by Kaká's run and diagonal pass - Clichy was left stranded and all Pato had to do was place it. We rattled them in the second game and they really didn't like it happening to them at the San Siro. You could sense frustration after that within the Milan XI as they argued amongst each other because nobody knew how to mark Adebayor or tackle him, and they couldn't play their way out of trouble and started passing astray because of the mass pressure from the workhorses in the Arsenal Midfield.

But their big names couldn't quite do it and the more chances they fluffed, the stronger we grew. From half-way through the 1st half onwards, we were too good for them. Plain & simple.

I am confused? Can you explain

I don't agree with most of that.

For a start they ARE NOT in 4th, they are 5th. HUGE difference.

They are over 20 points behind Inter at the top of the league, and finished over 40 points behind them last season. That is NOWHERE NEAR good enough. The difference is monumental.

Clearly they need to do more than just bring in a top class striker. Serious changes are needed all over the team.

Actually if you watch their matches carefully you will see that the worst problem they have is the finishing. They simply for the love of god cannot seem to finish their attacks with a goal.

Their mid is good but could be better at times. And as for their defense, it is so far great with maybe some slip-ups. But still, you cannot win games with defense, you need an offense.

I know Milan need a world class striker more than anything, but i don't think they would challenge Inter with just one new player. Inter are light years ahead of them, and were last season too, so they need to step up, because Inter won't be stepping down for them. Many people thought that would be the case, but Inter have reaffirmed their dominance this season.

Milan need more options in midfield. I just don't think their team is cut out to win a league campaign. Obviously they need a world class striker and better goal keeper, but i also think they need to bring in some youth all over the field to put pressure on the current players and give the team that extra bit of energy which it sometimes lacks. They need to be revitalised.

A couple of wingers would give them more options.

How come you think Pato 'just has his youth and can run'? He's got awesome skills and technique, but you cant expect a 18yo guy, recently arrived in a strange country to play in a strange league to be outstanding and solve all your problems. That was only his 2nd game in CL, against a top team. The media made fans expect too much from him here in the beggining. I would be immensely happy if Milan fans/board lost patiente with him this early, cause I really dont wanna see him fulfilling his potential in a Milan shirt