The stuff that dreams are made of

They held onto anything they could; their shirt collars; their scarves; even their fellow human beings. Their hearts were pounding, the adrenalin rushing through their bodies like the wind upon a windmill. They looked on nervously. This man, who’d been to the World Cup in South Africa with Brazil, was stepping up. He looked confident, but the stadium prayed and hoped; hoped that his trusted left foot would this time let him down; so that the dream may be complete.

European nights always produce something special, and this night was no different. After all, the planet’s greatest player, Lionel Messi, was

Arsenal 3-0 Milan: Gunners fall short

Arsenal came into this game needing to score 5 goals or more so as to overturn a 4 goal deficit. In the end, they put up a brave display but just lacked the crucial firepower to finish off the job.

The game was odd, not only because of the football on display, but also because of the personnel that turned up for both teams. Both teams put out sides that in normal circumstances they would not in a Champions League game. But with the realities of injuries and suspensions, both managers really had no choice and had to field what they thought was their strongest Starting XI’s.

Starting Line-ups

Arsenal were without the concussed Mikel Arteta and the injured Aaron Ramsey. They thus had to improvise by having Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain come into the side and play in midfield. Gervinho, who’d missed the first leg because of the African Cup of Nations, started out wide left. Other than these two changes, the rest of the side remained the same as from two weeks ago in the first leg.

Milan had problems in midfield as Kevin-Prince Boateng was injured while Massimo Ambrosini

Preview: Arsenal vs Milan

AC Milan go to the Emirates tomorrow night with one foot already in the quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League. Their 4-0 win at the San Siro two weeks ago seems to have done the job.

Arsenal will however take solace from the fact that on two occasions recently, Milan have been on the wrong end of outrageous comebacks. In 2004, they were 4-1 up