After Arsenal’s impressive performance at the San Siro and in the Champions League in particular, they have rightly been praised by many for their impressive performance so far.

Arsenal’s team spirit and discipline have been a major key to themselves and also go a long way in showing just how mature they have become in recent seasons. A team dominated by youthful skills and talents translated into a performance worthy of applause.

On the contrary, another team that has come of age is the almighty Ac Milan, although this time in a negative way. However, there was little positive in this epiphany. AC Milan was a sad imitation of the team that, just under 10 months earlier, had been proclaimed European club champions.

The Ronssoneri had no answer for their more sophisticated opponents and, as Arsenal fans, players and board members celebrated at the San Siro, they clashed triumphantly in Italy’s erstwhile slaughterhouse.

The build up to the first tie of the first knockout round had focused on youth versus experience. At the young corner was Arsenal’s fluid play, based on high-energy passing and movement, while at the old corner was Milan’s patient pragmatic and tactical approach.

Leading both sides were two highly successful managers who, in their own ways, had consistently been able to develop winning teams.

Arsenal’s Wenger, with his commitment to youth, pitted his wits against Milan’s Carlo Ancelotti, whose own style focused on molding older players into his system of play. Although I must confess that I don’t like Arsene Wenger’s youth policy and I can defend my point anywhere. My point is, what is the need for a youth policy when they are sold as soon as they mature and have gained the necessary experience?

Many of the players who made it through the youth ranks to the first team but had to leave along the way have performed wonderfully at other clubs, from Alidiére, Larsson (both scored against Arsenal in 2 games this season), to Penant . , Jeffers, Sidwell with Fabregas and Hleb are also likely to leave, all this has made a mockery of Arsenal politics and also earned them the tag of a business club.

When the draw for the second round of the Champions League took place, the question was: can Milan keep up with their younger opponents? The answer after the goalless draw in the first leg against the Emirates seemed to be yes, since Ancelotti’s men left with what they had come looking for. However, there was no panic at Arsenal. Not fitting in at home in Europe is often more important than scoring yourself and I would prove it.

Two weeks later the music changed and Milan were simply able to dance with Arsenal in a night of tense pressure and fireworks. Two goals was all Arsenal needed and one of those they deserved

Although the goal came quite late, but all thanks to the discipline of the gunners and great teamwork and much more to Arsene Wenger’s walcot super substitute. In fact, if the Gunners hadn’t been so wasteful in front of goal early in the game, the tie might have ended much sooner.

I don’t think Milan fans should be surprised because the warm-up signal was always there to see even though they won the Champions League last time, after struggling to win against Celtic and Bayern Munich against Manchester United, which was outrageously outclassed. in the Second Stage. The 3-0 scoreline was well deserved, helping to silence critics who believed the team was past its prime.

However, Rafael Benítez’s men dominated the final until Pippo Inzaghi scored twice. The warning signs were there and the decline that was evident continued into the new season. The loss to Celtic in the group stage was another stroke of luck for a Milan who, at the same time, were struggling to compete in Serie A, partly due to match congestion resulting from their participation in the World Cup. clubs.

There were even question marks, however until Arsenal won at the San Siro they looked unbeatable at home in Europe. As is the case with many crumbling empires, his homeland was the last to fall. As Arsenal stormed the castle in Milan in the space of ninety minutes, a group that had long been known as a bunch of seasoned and shrewd veterans turned old and outmatched.

In the official squad of the first team that Milan presented to UEFA for the tie, eighteen of the 28 players mentioned were well over thirty. eight of them were selected to start against Arsenal at the San Siro. Three other thirty-somethings, Clarence Seedorf, Ronaldo and Dida, all missed out with injury.

Perhaps it was because of his experience that Milan was able to plug the cracks for so long against Arsenal. Surprisingly, until the statuesque Zeljko Kalac couldn’t cope with a Cesc Fabregas shot that was eminently salvageable, Milan came within just one goal of progress.

Overall, however, there was no doubt that Arsenal were worthy victors, having instigated a tactical game plan for which Ancelotti and his team had no answer. As Milan president Silvio Berlusconi lamented, Wenger’s team simply did not give the hosts the ball. When they did, Milan had little idea what to do with it.

Alongside the veterans, Milan’s first XI was rounded out by creative heartbeats Kaká, Andrea Pirlo and 18-year-old wunderkind Pato. Although, tonight, they were put down, the class of the trio remains undoubted and it is around them that Milan’s next great team must be built, as the time has come to review the current group.

It is left to the Milan club board members to decide who gets to build the new and improved Milan team.

As he admitted on Tuesday, Ancelotti’s job now is to lead Milan to fourth in Serie A to ensure they play in the Champions League next season.

It’s a stark reality of the club’s modest short-term ambition and will likely be the current manager’s final act.

Having won, among other trophies, two Champions League titles and one league championship since taking over in 2001, Ancelotti has lifted Milan from the depths the club was plunged into by the likes of Alberto Zaccheroni, Cesare Maldini and Fatih Terim.

His current contract lasts until 2010 but Ancelotti’s chances of lasting beyond the summer look increasingly slim.

Rumors about possible successors, a list that will surely be headed by Frank Rijkaard and José Mourinho, and possibly Arsene Wenger, are growing louder.

In the Post’s match interview, Ancelotti admitted saying: “I don’t think we could have done anything more tonight.” A statement that has gone a long way in justifying the fact that a serious rebuilding process must be undertaken to save the imminent downfall of a large group of heroes.

With a manager without excuses for a team without fuel, the immediate future looks bleak for the seven-time European champions.

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