Last update 16 November, 2012 by Julio Muñoz
Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini's Málaga mathematically secured their place in the knockout stages of the Champions League by drawing 1-1 con el Milan, a result with which the Andalusian team continues to make history in its first participation in the top European club competition.
With the same lack of complexes with which they beat Milan already in the first leg of this group stage (1-0), Pellegrini's team came out onto the lawn of one of the temples of European football, to deal face to face with the Rossoneri and force the Italian team to do their best to try to amend the result of La Rosaleda.
Finally the party was in tables, in a more or less fair result and in accordance with what was seen on the ground, thanks to the goals of the Portuguese Eliseu in the first half for Málaga and the Brazilian Pato in the second for Milan. Málaga made it clear from the first minute that its intention, as Pellegrini had already announced the day before, It was not the one to go out for that single point that I needed for the pass to the second round, Rather, he wanted to win over a Milan that seems little by little to recover from the bad start to the season.
The Andalusian team starred in a good first quarter of an hour, in which he had Milan in his half of the field, with no recourse but long balls, but in which he did not materialize dangerous occasions. Everything changed the moment the Spaniard Bojan Krkic appeared on the scene and began to infiltrate the Málaga defense., forcing in the minute 18 to fully employ Willy Caballero, who would take out nine minutes later a providential mitt to deflect a foul from the Dutchman Urby Emanuelson who already smelled the net.
It was then that the forces managed to equalize and the rhythm of the match became somewhat rougher and less brilliant., everything until in the minute 40 Isco invented a great deep pass between two Rossoneri defenders that Eliseu knew how to place in the net. Already in the resumption of the match, witnessed from the box by the president of the club and former Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, Milan went out for all, locking Malaga in his half of the field, but without bringing danger to the goal.
Soon the game got rough, with fouls by Malaga that were highly contested by the local fans to the referee, English Howard Webb, who up to the minute 58 did not admonish a Malaguista player after having done it three times against Milan. To try to unlock the attack, the Milan coach, and the Italian Massimiliano Allegri, He started the German Kevin-Prince Boateng to replace the Italian Stephan El Shaarawy, the great hope of the Rossoneri that did not stand out today.
Shortly after, Pellegrini did the same and changed Saviola for Santa Cruz, but it was Milan that then struck an accurate blow in the rival goal, when head duck achieved the tie. From there to the end of the meeting, the two teams seemed to approve of the result, that makes Malaga go up one more step towards the history that it has already done and that it continues to do this season.
http://youtu.be/A2VFIxS-y00