The continent-wide chorus of praise for Milan after their crushing of Deportivo La Coruña was willingly joined by the Spanish club as they virtually conceded the quarterfinal tie to the defending European champions, who take a 4-1 lead into the second leg.
‘Milan were simply phenomenal,” Deportivo’s goalkeeper José Molina said after being beaten by four magnificent goals in a devastating eight-minute spell at San Siro on Tuesday night. ‘They fully deserved this victory because they have a fantastic team — for me the best in the world.
‘There is always hope for the second leg, but if we are realistic this is practically mission impossible.”
His dejected coach Javier Irureta said of the team increasingly favoured to win the tournamant: ‘Milan are not just tactically brilliant, they are also creative. I’m not throwing in the towel just yet but we will certainly have to take risks in the next game.
‘You can’t make concessions against Milan. After a good first half our team entered into a phase of lack of confidence which our opponents took advantage of.
‘Recovering our shape after being hit with four goals was very difficult. We looked for the second goal which would have put us back into the match but it wasn’t to be.”
Of the chances of overturning the deficit at the Riazor Stadium on April 7, Irureta said: ‘It looks very difficult. We have to be much more accurate and score a goal in the first half-hour to help us get stuck in.”
Deportivo can take heart from their recent pair of 1-0 wins over Juventus, last May’s beaten finalists at Old Trafford, and their daunting defensive efficiency at home, where they have not been breached in five ties. But offensive efficiency is now the order of the day.
And head-to-head history favours Milan, who won 4-0 at Deportivo last season after triumphing there by the only goal in 2001/02. As Deportivo’s Brazilian midfielder Mauro Silva conceded, Carlo Ancelotti’s team can be as effective away as they are at San Siro.
In Italy, Milan’s youngest Brazilian, Kaka, was showered with more praise for his two-goal contribution, notably his first on the stroke of half-time after Walter Pandiani’s 11th-minute header, amid remarkable sloppiness by Milan’s defenders, had highlighted the absence of Alessandro Nesta’s aerial prowess.
Unless the unthinkable happens, Milan will face Porto or Lyon in the semifinals, with the Portuguese team favourites to reach the last four after winning 2-0 at home in their first leg. —