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Mad Max
Massimo Ambrosini missed out on the Champions League Final two years ago through injury but, as Rob Paton of Calcio Italia magazine explains, he’s keen to make up for it in Athens
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Massimo Ambrosini is hoping that success in the Champions League Final can cap a fine personal season that has seen him break back into the Milan side with some match-winning performances. The stalwart midfielder is aiming to help his teammates reclaim some pride after heartbreaking defeat to Liverpool in 2005 that he cruelly missed out on through injury. “Life is strange because it doesn’t always give you a second opportunity,” he said. “I am delighted about this and we must all be ready to face Liverpool, who took the Cup away from us two years ago.”
The 29-year-old, recently awarded a contract extension until 2010, rejected suggestions that the result in Istanbul would have been any different if he were on the pitch. “Football is incredible sometimes and it showed just how true that is in that match,” he insisted. “Even if we had had 10 defenders on the pitch during those 10 minutes of madness it wouldn't have made any difference.”
With some powerful performances from midfield which have inspired Liverpool on their way to Athens, Steven Gerrard presents a test Ambrosini is relishing. “In my opinion he's unquestionably the best right now,” he stated. “It's enormously satisfying to pit my wits against him, and to do so in the Champions League Final makes it even better.”
Ambrosini has found a new lease of life with the Rossoneri this season, employed in a 4-3-2-1 formation that Coach Carlo Ancelotti re-organised to accommodate the versatile Italian. Notable performances against Sampdoria and Atalanta – where he found the net – and dominant displays in Champions League crunch ties against Celtic, Bayern and Manchester United have seen him receive rave reviews across the peninsula.
Often overshadowed by flamboyant teammates Clarence Seedorf and Kaka – plus the performances of fellow midfielders Rino Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo – the maestro has been an integral part of the success Milan has enjoyed in their run to this year’s finale, adding balance and defensive discipline to the side. It is no coincidence that a rejuvenated Seedorf and an unstoppable Kaka have made the failure to replace Andriy Shevchenko almost irrelevant, but behind their form has been the presence of Ambrosini – effectively acting as Milan’s best ‘signing’ of the summer after missing most of the previous campaign through injury.
The San Siro boys have been in formidable form this season in the Champions League, and reflecting on the 2005 Istanbul capitulation, Ambrosini believes the Rossoneri are stronger and wiser than two years ago. “I think that our side will arrive in Athens with a better understanding of our own power,” he insisted. “After the semi-final with PSV we all kind of had the feeling that we had survived, but today we are going to the big game after having already put in an excellent performance against a great side.”
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