Leonardo banks on AC Milan to attack
By John May
Filippo Inzaghi is expected to lead Milan's attack against United
Brazil legend Leonardo believes AC Milan will attack Manchester United from the
start to overturn the 3-2 Champions League semi-final deficit.
A 1-0 second leg win would take Milan through but Leonardo, who spent four
years at Milan, told BBC Sport: "It's not the time to try to manage a result.
"Milan will play the way they want to and that's to go out and win.
"With Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, United have players who
can score at any time."
The Brazilian World Cup winner is licking his lips at the prospect of a repeat
of the first-leg thriller, but with his old team emerging victorious.
Milan are coming to their prime at the right time
Former AC Milan player Leonardo
He said: "Nobody expected 3-2 in the first leg, it was a spectacular game, with
spectacular players and spectacular goals.
"When you talk about United and Milan you expect so much because they are big
teams. But it's not every day you see a game like that with five goals."
Leonardo admitted he feared the worst when United took an early lead and
threatened to repeat their astonishing win over Italian opposition in the
previous round.
"When United scored after five minutes, playing at home, it might have looked
like another game like Roma," said Leonardo.
"But I think that's when Milan's big personalities showed themselves. Players
like Alessandro Nesta and Paolo Maldini, Kaka and Andrea Pirlo showed they are
big players in big games.
"Perhaps 2-2 was a more likely result but the third goal in the last minute
came about because of a missed ball in midfield and a fast counter-attack,
which is what United can do."
Unlike United, Milan have no other prizes to play for and their only route into
next season's Champions League could be to win this season's trophy.
Kaka and Ronaldo go head-to-head again on Wednesday
But Leonardo feels Carlo Ancelotti's team are peaking at the right time.
"Milan are coming to their prime at the right time of the season. At the start
of the season, they had some problems, with all the difficulties in Italian
football," he said.
"But they know how to play in the Champions League, they have the pedigree.
"They have played in four semi-finals in the last five years, they have won the
European title six times and when the players play in this kind of match, they
are in tune with the club's philosophy and tradition."
Leonardo is relishing another duel between Milan's Brazilian maestro Kaka and
United's mercurial wizard Cristiano Ronaldo.
Kaka's two goals in the first-leg not only put him out in front as this
season's leading Champions League scorer, but also put him ahead on points in
the debate as to who is the best.
Leonardo said: "They are the best players in the world at the moment.
"Kaka and Ronaldo are very different players. Ronaldo is more spectacular
sometimes but Kaka is more objective and in the game more and can have more
influence on it."
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