Unlike Serie A where they seem pathetic, Milan showed some real stamina in Europe. They managed to beat Marseille at Velodrome in the first round in group C, thus showing that they will be leading the group together with Real Madrid. Zurich arrive at San Siro, the team that seem to have subscribed for rossoneri. Actually these teams met in UEFA Cup last year, when Milan won both of the mentioned matches. The Swiss champion gave a solid resistance to Real in the first round, but in the end they suffered a convincing defeat. The appearance itself on this competition is a big success for them and their chance for a surprise might be Marseille, though they won’t give up without a fight against Milan either, as they have nothing to lose.

The Sunday evening game will see the fallen Milan host Bari in the attempt to win the game. they lost in Udine, which we don’t regard as a surprise. We have mentioned in our preview they don’t have the quality and it is something you can’t avoid. Leonardo was disappointed and, although he is defending his players, it is very visible that his team lack creativity, that they are slow and predictable and that the win over Bologna was a tiresome, fortunate effort. As soon as the rivals got stronger, even a bit stronger, Milan failed. Bari suffered their first defeat on Wednesday. They lost to Cagliari at home and it wasn’t the right way to continue the run after that pretty win over Atalanta. Still, they have every reason to be happy over the opening of the season. They have nothing to lose at this outing, they are probably aware of the fact Milan are merely a shadow which could be quite easily turned into their benefit.

This is one of the derbies of the round in Serie A as Milan arrive at Friuli. Udinese recovered well from the poor start as they took four points from the games against Catania and Napoli. They had Di Natale’s goal disallowed in the Napoli game, but the hosts had the better chances, thus we can say they deserved one point. We need to say that Udinese are still not playing to their potential but they are improving and should be able to enter the fight for the European places. Milan defeated Bologna after the Champions League win over Marseille but if it hadn’t been for Seedorf, Bologna would have taken a point from Lombardy. Ronaldinho didn’t even make the bench as he was ill, but he has recovered and we are yet to see if Leonardo will play him from the start or leave him on the bench just like against Marseille. The latter will probably happen as the Brazilian prefers 4-4-2, while Seedorf proved to be the better option in that style of play.

Last year, after the promotion to Serie A, Bologna won on this venue having surprised Milan at the opening of the season, but even despite that win, we claimed from the start Bologna were weak and that they will have problems surviving the year. At the end, they grabbed the last minute survival in the final round. Bologna started this year with two draws, but then Chievo came to break them. All the poverty of this team was so evident in this match where they failed to do absolutely anything, they almost never got close to Sorrentin’s goal. They are now due to travel to San Siro and if they lose, things will get really serious for the manager Papadopulo. After the dreadful display in Livorno, Milan picked up a win on the Velodrome and triumphantly opened the new Champions League crusade. The optimism is back, rossoneri proved yet again that they play much better in Europe and that CL is their chance. Surely they won’t neglect the domestic championship, but to be honest, this team is not capable of dealing with Inter and Juventus, we saw it in the first three rounds. We will see which formation will Leonardo opt to deploy, 36 years old veteran Inzaghi is a true hero, but manager cannot buil his entire season upon this old mate.

Trip to the Velodrome stadium is coming at the worst timing possible for Milan. The game in Livorno showed us that the team is in crisis, that everything in their game depends on couple of players, and that Milan have no real quality for great things. They were held to a goalless draw in Livorno, even had been a worse side in the first 45 minutes and it was a game against one of the weakest sides in the league. The people blame Ronaldinho, the word is that Leonardo will remove him from the squad, but Galliani stated today that the Brazilian is not guilty for all the problems. Leonardo announced changes in his team and it will be interesting to see how his team will manage to resist in front of probably the most fiery fans in Europe. The greatest French club is coming back to the European elite competition led by the new manager, Deschamps. They have reinforced the squad and are doing great so far. They are still far from what they can really do, but Deschamps’ influence can be seen already, he brought toughness and aggressiveness which brings results in the domestic league.

The opening game of the third round will be played on Picchi stadium in Livorno. This is not an ordinary game, whenever Livorno and Milan play their duels get much of a public attention. Namely, Livorno is known as the left-oriented city and the fans are proud to be communists. Thus, the arrival of Berlusconi’s Milan always arouses negative emotions. The Italian prime minister was often called out by the fans and it will definitely be the case this time too. Livorno are back in the elite flier with the main objective to stay in it too and will do everything not to lose this duel. They are having a bit of unsteady beginning, but the schedule is also very bad for them. They will try to use the fact that Milan are arriving to Toscana after the shocking della Madonnina derby. Two years ago, at Milan’s first visit to this stadium, rossoneri had an easy job winning, but at that time Amaranti were out of themselves. Before that, Milan only won once out of three outings in this, for them, hostile city.

Della Madonina derby and one of the greatest local derbies in the world Inter will enter in champion’s mood and as the team with a lot more success in these duels. Still, even though many people will have their money on Inter in preseason, after the kick-off, things look a bit changed. Namely, the opening round saw Milan showing more winning in Siena and proving they are slowly entering the wanted form during Berlusconi Cup before that. Ronaldinho – Pato duel brought the points home from Toscana and the team will enter the city derby with a lot more optimism than before. Inter disappointed on the premier against Bari. Slim 1:1 against the rookies made Mourinho mad who concurred his team played bad. Still. It is his fault since he made a triple alteration to his formation during only one half. He insisted on the diamond even though Inter is without a creative playmaker. I suppose that is why they insist on bringing Sneider and Baptista so much. Suspicious penalty and a goal with nothing more than a handful of chances was not enough for reigning champs. They are announcing this derby as the chance to redeem themselves but we are not sure they will manage to do that against the buoyed rossoneri.

The start of the season in Tuscany and Milan arrive to Franchi. Last year rossoneri roared through Siena, but two years ago they were held on to a 1:1 draw. Hosts are not naive; they proved that last season by winning a midtable spot, which is also their aim this season. Coach Giampaolo stayed on the bench and he will use the same golden recipe in the new championship; actually Siena are one of the teams that concede least goals at home. Milan regained lost confidence in a friendly against Juventus on Monday, when they played their best preparation game but still they are not the material for the title race. The fans faced a nightmare summer, as Kaka left, while bringing Huntelaar and few other players is not enough to calm them. Berlusconi stated that the transfer window is over, but that he might happen to sign a player or two. In the duels between two arch-rivals was obvious that Milan are not capable of standing up to Inter and Juventus.

Milan disappointed their fans again in both domestic championship and UEFA Cup, where Werder eliminated them in the quarterfinals. Chelsea were left empty-handed after the undeserved elimination from the Champions League semifinals, when current European champions Barcelona beat them, while they ended the Premiership season third on the standings, just like Milan.

This is one of the most interesting matches of the last round. Florence is in fever as Milan arrive at Franchi. Fiorentina are safe on fourth and in worst case scenario they will play in the qualifications for the Champions League but the purple want more. Actually, they are three points behind Milan and Juventus. If they win Milan with a margin higher than one goal, they will climb on third which will lead them automatically to the Champions league. Milan complicated their situation; if Juve win Lazio, rossoneri won’t be second no matter what happens at Franchi. We are yet to see the further course of the situation but the loss to Roma and the fans’ protests about Paolo Maldini showed that the club is in chaotic state and this will probably be Ancelotti’s last game on the bench where he spent eight years. They have long dropped out of the title race, failed to win UEFA Cup and now they even compromised the automatic promotion to the Champions League.