Just as I write 6 hours before d war of the two stalwarts, the two titans, the two czars, the two of the supreme clubs in European football, I feel a surge of adrenaline, a surge of spirit, a feeling of excitement, a feeling of apprehension, a feeling of trepidation… but then sumwhere in my heart, deep down 4m a cozy corner shouts a voice “Ottmar Hitzfeld was, is and will always be betta dan Carlo Ancelotti”… the San Siro will host the first half of this epic battle between the tow former European champions – Bayern Munich and AC Milan…. The clash promises to be a mouth-watering, delightful, high-voltage face-off between two teams who have been beleaguered in their domestic leagues, one of them struggling to keep their chances of next year’s Champions League alive. Both teams have had their moments of glory, over-hauling d likes of Celtic & Real Madrid to get to d super-eight of the most coveted trophy in European football.
Bayern Munich inevitably are up against an Herculean task of outdoing the Italians @ the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, with their key players not available for the most-important away leg. Inspirational captain and unsurpassable goal-keeper Oliver Kahn will miss the first leg by serving out a one-match ban after the German club withdrew an appeal against a one-game ban. The veteran goalkeeper had been punished by Uefa following a row after Bayern's game with Real Madrid earlier in March. To augment the woes, mid-fielders Mark Van Bommel will miss the San Siro leg. The Dutch star received a suspended one-match ban for gesturing to the crowd during Bayern's last 16 first leg encounter at Real Madrid, and was then sent off in the return leg. However both the players will b available for the second leg @ the Allianz Arena. For Milan, theie veteran defender, Paolo Maldini suffered a recurrence of his knee injury in Sunday's 2-1 derby defeat to Internazionale. Initial indications suggest he will be out for a month, making him a major doubt for both legs of the quarter-final. The knee trouble has been a long-running complaint for Maldini, who is concerned he will require an operation to fix the problem. The German giants are still feeling the pain from their defeat to AC Milan in the first knockout round in last season's competition. A 1-1 draw in Munich was followed by a crushing 4-1 victory for the Italian side as Milan produced an awesome display of attacking power at the San Siro to win their last 16 clash. Bayern have already visited the San Siro this season, beating AC Milan's fierce rivals Inter Milan 2-0 there in the group stages back in September, Bayern's first victory in Italy for 18 years. Bayern have lost their last four meetings with AC Milan at the San Siro, the stadium where the German side were crowned European champions six years ago after beating Valencia on penalties.
In the war of the managers, two of the best in Europe, Ottmar Hitzfeld has evidently been emerging victorious in the build-up battles, but can he win the war, or will he concede defeat to the talisman Carlo Ancelotti, a man whose actions have always shouted far louder than his words. Can Ottmar Hitzfeld outwit his Italian counterpart in Bayern’s quest for European glory, or will Ancelotti emerge as the Messiah for a team that is on d verge of going without any silverware this season? Will the Italian defiance outdo the German determination, or will the britzkreig be too hot to handle for the stylish Italians? Only if these questions were answerable, den destiny wudnt hav kept aside a date like 3rd April 2007 at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan, Italy in front of 85,000 fans.
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